


Friends in a Strange Place

by Unicornfoal



Series: Legacy of the Cursed Lands [1]
Category: TOME: Terrain of Magical Expertise
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-12 16:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 66,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2117379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unicornfoal/pseuds/Unicornfoal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The land of Tome, recently founded after being famously freed from an ancient curse, has quickly become a haven for a multitude of Humans, Draconians, Slimes, Shifters, Wengals and Batwings alike... but just under the surface, something wrong is bubbling, and it will take a group of six unlikely friends to uncover it and save their country.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Takeoff

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The newest nation in the world, Terrain of Magical Expertise is founded literally on the backs of outsiders to the land. This is because, uniquely, the land it was founded on was totally lifeless. Now more commonly referred to by the slang term 'Tome', Terrain of Magical Expertise was founded by five scientists, who set out to do what none had even attempted: Cleanse the cursed land of its ancient magic. Using newly developed scientific methods, over a period of ten years the task was complete and the lifeless desert began to grow plants and support insects and animals for the first time in millennia. In these past five years since, an uncountable population of people from all over the world have settled in the young nation, which thrives as more people arrive by the day._

 

* * *

 

"WHYTI! IT'S ALMOST FOUR O'CLOCK!"

A young black-haired woman jumped in surprise, startling the few customers still left in the small restaurant as her wings shot out and just barely avoided hitting them. "Coming, Sat!" Taking care to reign her wings back in, Whyti smiled apologetically and rushed to where the shout had come from.

At the back of the restaurant, another young woman stood behind a counter, hands held over her ears as she glared through the window into the kitchen behind her. "Thanks for the warning," she muttered.

"No problem, Flames!" the voice beyond cheerfully replied, before emerging from a nearby door. "I like to keep my employees on their toes!"

The redhead raised an eyebrow as she brought her hands down from her ears. " _'Employees'?_ "

Whyti ran up to the counter, frowning in worry. "I totally lost track of the time!" she cried, taking off her apron and name badge. "You'll be okay on your own today, right Flamey?"

"Sure I will," Flamey replied, leaning on the countertop. "Lunch rush is over, and we close early on Mondays anyway."

Saturndiva, the cook of the group, pulled out a handbag from the kitchen and held it out. "Don't forget this, a'right?"

"Thanks!" Whyti said with a grin, leaving her apron and name badge on the counter by Flamey. "I'll see you two at home!"

"Have fun!" Flamey replied.

"As much as you can at the _doctor_ ," Sat whispered, but Whyti had already turned and ran off, her large wings resting over her shoulders like a white, feathery cloak. As she reached the door, she ran straight into a passer-by, a young man with bright red hair that stuck straight up despite being soaked through. The pair almost fell over in a cloud of feathers before managing to separate, each apologising profusely before Whyti dashed off into the pouring rain.

"Hey, he's cute," Sat commented, collecting Whyti's abandoned uniform. "Think you could get his number for me?"

Flamey scoffed. "Shut up," she replied, planting a wide and welcoming smile on her face as the customer approached. Sat retreated back into the kitchen, but now Flamey was getting a good look at him, she found herself privately agreeing with her roommate-cross-manager's analysis. Although he had no visible wings, it was obvious he was a Wengal like Whyti, as he had the distinctive feathery tail and tattoos on his face, although his were lines across his eyes rather than Whyti's forehead hexagon. His wings though, were either hidden by illusion magic or small enough to be tucked underneath the baggy blue shirt he was sporting. "How can I help you, sir?" Flamey asked him as he reached the counter.

The redhead gulped, almost shrinking into the scarf wrapped around his neck and chin. "Uh..." He glanced around nervously, and Flamey couldn't help noticing some of them were to her side, where her wings rested.

Flamey's smile became mischievous. "What, never seen a Batwing before?" she asked, crossing her arms and flaring her wings a bit. "Or you more used to ones with bigger wings?"

The shy customer blushed, averting his eyes. "O-of course I've seen Batwings," he replied quietly. "Just... not... friendly ones."

At that, Flamey felt the humour of the situation instantly drain away and be replaced with awkwardness. "Well, I promise _I'm_ nice," she said with a friendly smile, lowering her arms. "Do you need some time to see what you want?"

"Um." The redhead looked up at the menu for a few moments, then returned his gaze to the countertop, pulling out a small purse full of coins. "Just a water, please."

Flamey frowned. The cheapest thing on the boards? That told her all she needed to know about the poor guy. Making a snap decision, she held out a hand to halt his picking out of coins. "You like hot chocolate?"

He glanced down at his coins. "Yeah, but-"

"It's on me," Flamey insisted, turning to their drinks machine and hitting buttons. "Name's Flamey, by the way. You go sit down, I'll be right there."

The redhead stood in shocked surprise for a few moments before slowly returning his coins to his purse. "Alpha," he replied. "Thank you."

As Alpha went to sit down, Sat poked her head out the kitchen window. "Ooh, someone's got a crush!" she half-sang in a hushed tone.

"Five seconds ago you were asking for his number," Flamey pointed out with a glare.

"Yeah," Sat said with a shrug, "but I wasn't actually gonna make a move on 'im!" She winked before disappearing back into the kitchen. "Go get 'em, tiger!"

Flamey ignored her.

 

* * *

 

Two minutes later, Flamey found Alpha sat at the table furthest from anyone else, dripping water profusely onto the floor as he hunched over in an attempt to warm up. She sat down opposite, placing on the table in front of him one of the two hot chocolates in her hands. He stared at it for a moment before reaching out and taking a sip over his scarf. "Wow, that's good."

"You sound surprised!" Flamey giggled.

Alpha smiled back, blushing. "I... wasn't really sure what to expect..."

"It's okay," Flamey laughed, taking a mouthful of liquid from her own glass. "I figured you looked like you needed someone to talk to, but I warn you, I will have to get up if another customer comes in."

"That's fine," Alpha said with a nod. "You're working, so..."

The pause stretched out a few moments. Flamey noted to herself that her new friend wasn't much of a talker. "So, you new to Tome, Alpha?"

He nodded again. "Didn't think I'd make it," he shared, still staring at his drink between the occasional sip. "I'm a long way from home out here."

Flamey decided not to pry further in that direction. "Where you staying?" she asked instead.

Alpha took in a breath but didn't speak, still avoiding her eyes.

"You don't know!?"

The young man shrugged.

Flamey frowned. "Now that won't do."

"I'll find somewhere," Alpha whispered. "It's fine."

"No, it is not!" Flamey said with a shake of her head. She paused for only a moment in thought, taking another swig of her drink. "You a brawler, Alpha?"

Alpha finally met Flamey's eyes, ringing of confused surprise. "Huh?"

"Do you play two-team brawl?"

"Uh..."

"I'll take that as a yes." Flamey stood, grabbing her near-empty glass. "Hang around for an hour or so and dry off. I know some guys that can help you out."

"Um."

"Eloquent as always!" she quipped, heading back to the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

The rain had died down to only a sprinkle by the time the restaurant was beginning to close up. Alpha still felt damp all over, but that paled in comparison to the worry that was slowly piling up in his head. What if this 'Flamey' was just being nice to put him off his guard and ultimately humiliate him? What if she had some crazy short-term memory problem and would forget all about him!? _What if he was feeling cold because of some weird poison in his hot chocolate!?_

The glass doors that served as the entrance to the small building were closed and locked by the blonde lady Alpha had surmised was the cook and owner. She shot Alpha another wink and cheeky grin (why did she keep doing that?) and headed back towards the counter. "Yo Flames! I can close up if you and your boyfriend wanna leave now!"

"Not my boyfriend!" Flamey shouted from the kitchen, before emerging apron-less and dragging a mop and bucket. "Are you sure you don't want help, with Whyti not here?"

"I can help," Alpha offered, standing up. "I don't mind."

Sat scoffed, waving a hand at the two. "Nonsense! You two go! Have fun at your sports!"

"If you're sure," Flamey insisted, placing the bucket on the floor.

"Go, go, go!" Sat cried, grabbing the mop from Flamey's hand and pushing her back into the kitchen. "I'll be fine!"

Alpha blinked in confusion. "Um..."

Saturndiva looked over at Alpha with a start. "Oh, right!" She waved him over, gesturing to the kitchen door. "Front door's locked, so you'll have to go out the side, cutie."


	2. Brawl Begin

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Perhaps the most popular sport in the world, Two-Team Brawl is estimated to have begun in the Batwing tribes as a way for young warriors to practise their war skills and teamwork, and spread among all the peoples of the world. As the preferred methods of problem solving moved from violence to peaceful discussion, the tradition moved into an activity conducted for fun. It is commonly derided for the object of the game being to harm the other team first, but it nevertheless has never waned in popularity. It perhaps helps that there is always a healer nearby to instantly erase the minor injuries a usual game will cause, and, surprisingly, major injuries and other accidents are exceedingly rare._

 

* * *

 

"I'm sorry about Sat," Flamey said with a smile. "I know she can be pushy sometimes."

Alpha shrugged, his gaze on his shoes as they methodically walked along the pavement. "It's fine."

"It's not that far a walk, though! Which is good."

"Where are we going, anyway?" Alpha asked, looking up at his companion. "You said something about Two-Team Brawl and finding me a place to stay, but I don't see how those are related."

Flamey laughed, shooting Alpha a grin. "I'm a bit of a brawler myself, believe it or not," she explained. "There's amateur meet-ups in the park every evening. I have some friends there who might be able to help you out." She thought for a moment. "I should probably warn you, though: My brawler friends are... odd."

Alpha's eyes widened. "Odd?"

"Nothing bad!" Flamey insisted, seeming nervous. "They're just... not your average guys."

Just as Flamey had promised, their walk then ended as they emerged into a square of sorts, the road encircling a large-ish field of grass. To Alpha's amazement, a crowd of people stood all around in clumps, some participating in brawls while others were merely watching, cheering on whichever pair they favoured. The wengal was pretty sure he saw money changing hands at the announced end of one of the matches.

"Where are they?" Flamey muttered to herself, scanning the crowd. "I know I told them I might not come today, but- Aha!" With an excited grin, the batwing grabbed Alpha's wrist and took off across the road and through the crowded park.

It was all Alpha could do to keep up with his excited new friend. "Slow down!" His wings, hidden under his baggy shirt, flared against the restricting fabric, and he fought to keep them from unintentionally ripping apart his clothing.

"Guys! Over here!" Flamey shouted, waving her arm, and suddenly came to a halt, Alpha running straight into her back before realising she'd released his wrist from her grip.

"Lady Flame!" a booming voice announced. "How wondrous to see you make it to our gathering today!"

"You're early," a quieter voice added in a monotone.

Alpha looked up from rubbing his face in embarrassment. Flamey was laughing as she explained how she'd been let off work early, to a large draconian man with an excited grin and a smaller purple slime with no visible mouth.

"And this is Alpha!" Flamey announced. "He was at Sat's, and said he has nowhere to stay, so he's why she let me off early."

"Greetings, Sir Alpha!" the draconian boomed, holding out a clawed hand. "My name is Nylocke, Master of the Cold Steel!" Alpha timidly took the offered hand, and Nylocke shook it thoroughly. "It is a pleasure to meet you this fine day!"

Alpha decided not to point out it was still raining, too busy rubbing his hand once it was released from Nye's strong grip. "Hi..."

"I am Gamecrazed," the slime added in the same monotone. "You may call me GC, if you wish."

Alpha waved.

"Where's Kirb?" Flamey asked.

"Oh, he's somewhere around here," Nye answered, looking around and waving his hand. "He ran off just after we arrived."

Flamey snorted in repressed laughter. "Did he spot another potential new student?"

Nye hid his grin behind a hand. "With the Squire, anything's possible."

"Here he comes," GC said, looking off behind Alpha and Flamey.

Alpha turned and quickly spotted the third of Flamey's friends, who was waving as Flamey shouted greetings at him. He was obviously a shifter, a short and paper-white humanoid with no nose and large brown eyes, a katana tied to his belt. As he approached, he quickly locked eyes on Alpha, who looked away.

"By the way, this is Alpha," Flamey explained. "Alpha, this is Kirb!"

"Hey there," Kirb said, mitten-hands on his hips. "You a new brawler here?"

"I-I'm not a brawler," Alpha insisted. "I'm not so good at sports, especially not-"

"Pfft!" Kirb cried. "Yeah, right! I can tell just by looking at you that you're perfect for this game!"

Nye smiled knowingly. "Found a new student, Squire?"

"Huh?" Alpha nervously asked. "I'm not-!"

"C'mere!" Kirb cried as he grabbed at Alpha's shirt. "Get this off, first of all; You need to take advantage of your wings!"

Alpha's face turned almost as red as his hair, and he rapidly shook his head as he tugged his shirt down. "N-n-no, I'd rather not!"

To Alpha's relief, Flamey stepped in, pushing Kirb away from her new friend. "Alright, he said no, so that's a no." Kirb crossed his arms and glared at her, but she only did the same thing back at him. "You and I may know why you're asking him to take off his shirt, but he doesn't, so why don't you try explaining first?"

Kirb rolled his eyes, but uncrossed his arms and turned to Alpha. "As I just said, if you wanna be a brawler, you gotta take advantage of everything you can do! In your case, you gotta free up your wings!" He crossed his arms. "You don't want 'em getting caught up in that stupid-looking top of yours, do you? I can see you've got a tank top on under there, so it's not like you'd be naked or anything."

"Um..." Alpha mumbled, staring at the grass by his feet.

"Your wings are small, correct?" Everyone spun around to face GC as he spoke, looking directly at Alpha. "You hide them because you don't want others to see. It scares you."

Alpha couldn't reply through the lump in his throat, so he just stared at his shoes.

"Hey, it's alright, Alpha," Flamey comforted him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're in Tome now. It doesn't matter what people where you came from thought, no-one here will care what size your wings are. I can promise that."

Alpha self-consciously raised a hand to his face and stroked one of the tattoos over his eyes.

"Besides," Flamey added with a giggle, "we may not be able to fly, but we can still use our wings!" She fluttered her own a little in demonstration. "Give brawling a try? For me?"

There was a long pause before Alpha gently nodded, and a sigh of relief rang through the small group. Flamey stepped back and Alpha carefully pulled off his scarf and shirt, leaving his black tanktop and wings visible. He was still nervous despite his unspoken promise to Flamey, so the feathery limbs on his back remained stubbornly plastered to his shoulderblades.

"Great!" Kirb cried with a clap of his hands. "Next up, what kind of magic you best at?"

"Uh, I don't really specialise-"

"Awesome, so you've got a variety!" Kirb grabbed Alpha's arm and dragged him off in a seemingly-random direction, Flamey rescuing the wengal's shirt and scarf before they fell in the wet grass and mud. "I know just the guys to pit you against for your first brawl; They're newbies like you, and honestly they've been needing a beat-down for those big egos of theirs."

"But I thought I needed a partner?" Alpha asked. He noticed Flamey, Nye and GC were following them, and as Kirb was moving much slower than Flamey had earlier, it wasn't a fight to keep up.

Kirb laughed, "Dude, _I'm_ your partner! I'll keep one of them busy while you concentrate on getting a shot on the other guy. Just keep out of range of their swords, shoot a magic attack at 'em."

"I-I don't want to hurt anyone," Alpha weakly protested, looking around at the crowds as they passed.

"That's why you use weak magic, stupid," Kirb snapped. "Strong enough so they feel the hit but not enough to hurt them! Their swords are dulled too, so if they hit you, you lose but you aren't hurt. Aha, here we are."

The group came to a halt by a large gap in the crowds. In the middle stood two teenage human boys, dressed up in bright orange and blue outfits and wielding wooden swords. They were looking around with confident grins. "Who here is brave enough to take The Twin Blades on?" one of them announced.

Kirb released Alpha and approached the pair. Alpha was going to follow, but Flamey grabbed his arm and, as he turned to face her, leaned in to whisper, "One last hint, if you need to move quickly for any reason, a good flap of the wings really helps." She let him go and Alpha gave her a grateful nod before running to catch up with Kirb.

"My good buddy Alpha and I will kick your butts into next week!" Kirb called, pulling his still-sheathed katana out of his belt.

The Twin Blades looked over with scoffing looks. "A challenger!" the one in orange cried.

"You honestly believe you can beat us?" the one in blue added.

There was a sigh from Alpha's right, and he jumped in surprise as he saw a young batwing land beside them, a clipboard in his hands. "Do you all agree not to hold the organisers of this event responsible for any damage taken in the event of this unofficial Two-Team Brawl today?" he asked in a bored tone, holding a pen ready.

The Twin Blades and Kirb all chorused "Yes," in equally bored tones, and Alpha added his a little late once he realised what was going on.

Nearby, Nye leaned down towards Flamey and GC. "Ah, Demonking is working today! I must catch up with him after the Squire and Sir Alpha finish their brawl!"

Referee present and legal issues sorted, the four brawlers faced off in the makeshift arena. Demonking raised a hand. "Tsuzuku and Shogun versus Kirbopher and... that guy. Three, two, one, start."

The moment their referee had thrown down his hand, Kirb jumped with unnatural speed on the blue swordsman, and the pair were quickly locked in a battle of their blades. Alpha didn't have the time to watch them though, as the orange swordsman was running at him with great speed. He was frozen only for a moment before he remembered Flamey's advice and flared his wings, dashing to one side with a well-timed flap to give himself speed. Instincts formed from avoiding his peers back home sprung into use as Alpha dodged his opponent's wooden blade, trying to put some distance between them.

"ALPHA, USE YOUR MAGIC, YOU DORK!" shouted Kirb.

"R-right!" Alpha cried in response, but he didn't stop to see if he'd been heard, tossing a small fireball in the swordsman's direction. It was easily dodged, so Alpha quickly followed it up with a small blast of water, which the orange swordsman also avoided by throwing himself at the ground, covering himself in mud. Alpha took the opportunity to put more distance between them and threw another fireball, but his opponent easily avoided it and continued the chase.

"Stop playing with him, Tsuzuku!" shouted the blue swordsman, holding off one of Kirb's stronger blows. "This guy's got me on the ropes!"

"Shut up and be a good training dummy!" Kirb shouted back.

The orange swordsman (Tsuzuku, Alpha mentally filled in) glared in Alpha's direction and held up his sword. Alpha almost groaned in annoyed frustration, but instead of running away, he decided to hold his ground. His only hope of getting past the sword was, as Kirb had said, a magic attack, but from a distance they were all avoided. An idea forming in his mind, he readied a single finger and concentrated on Tsuzuku's oncoming charge.

"You're dead!" the swordsman cried, raising his sword to take a swing at the small wengal.

Alpha pushed out his hand, letting loose a weak electrical charge from his outstretched finger directly at Tsuzuku's torso. There was no time to block it, and the young human jumped back as the charge went straight through his cloth armour, causing him to drop his wooden sword in shock.

"You hit me..." he muttered in surprise.

"We have a victory," Demonking announced, sounding slightly more surprised than bored. "Alpha has landed a hit on Tsuzuku. Kirbopher and Alpha win the match."

Alpha couldn't resist a smile, pulling back his hand as Tsuzuku grabbed his sword and walked off in a huff. "OH RAPTURE!" came a cry from behind, and the redhead was caught up in a pair of green scaly arms that pulled him into the air with their tight grip. "I knew you would win, Sir Alpha!"

Nye released Alpha back to the ground, where he found himself surrounded by Flamey and GC. Flamey also gave him a bearhug. "I knew you could do it!"

Alpha saw Kirb approaching the group and gave him a shy wave. "I actually enjoyed that," he said, and pulled back from Flamey to address her directly. "That was fun!"

Kirb cried "Ha!" as he reached his friends, smiling at Alpha. "What'd I say, kid? I'm never wrong about these things!"

"He boasts, but he is correct," GC added. "I would not have started playing either were it not for Kirb's persuasion."

"C'mon," Flamey said, nudging Alpha with an elbow. "I bags next match with you!"


	3. Home New Home

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_In ancient times, the Wengals were the same as Humans, except that they had magic while their peers did not. When the two tribes split, for reasons unknown to this day, they ventured north and came across the Dragons. Perhaps eager for a share of the Dragons' power, or maybe just wanting some land of their own, the Wengals began a war and, unsurprisingly, did not do well. Realising the advantage the Dragons had in flight, the small tribe gave themselves wings and the ability of flight, matching the Dragons in battle with their high agility and smaller size. After the war eventually came to a halt, the Wengals settled in what is now the western tip of the Batwing Conglomerate. It was then the Wengal-Batwing split began, as the tribe took stock of those that had chosen feathered wings and those that had chosen leathery wings. The civil war was brief, but the feathered Wengals moved westward to found the nation of Wengaland._

**that's cool and all, but I was thinking you'd explain why all you wengals have those ridiculous face tattoos? -B**

**I'll see what I can do, Bits. And they're not ridiculous. -W**

 

* * *

 

Inbetween brawl matches, the four friends explained to Alpha how they'd all met.

"Sir Gamecrazed and I were the first," Nye said with a grin as he showed Alpha to the nearest drinking fountain. "I met him here, perhaps two summers ago, watching in the audience, and we became comrades instantly!"

"Nye and GC were my first friends after Sat and Whyti," Flamey explained as she and Alpha watched Nye and GC in a match. "I came to the park my first week here, happened to team up with Nye, and that was that!"

"I've been friends with 'em a year or so by now," Kirb boasted as he took a break to recast protection spells on his katana. "Ran into 'em here one afternoon, convinced GC to actually try fighting instead'a just watching everyone else." He grinned, showing off sharp canines. "These guys would totally suck without me around!"

The two hour gathering felt more like two minutes, and it was getting dark. The children and their parents were the first to leave, and it seemed most people took that as the signal to begin wrapping up. The designated referees began to turn in badges to the organisers, and Alpha and his four new friends found themselves standing together on the grass as the crowds dispersed into the streets.

"This was probably the most fun I've had in my life," Alpha sighed happily as he pulled his shirt back on as a barrier to the chill air.

Flamey giggled. "I hope that means we'll see you back here tomorrow!"

"Sure!" Alpha agreed, but paused in thought as he flipped his scarf over his neck. "Although I still don't have anywhere to stay tonight."

"You can stay with us, Sir Alpha!" Nye offered, clapping his hands together. "A fourth in our wondrous home would be most fitting!"

Kirb was smiling along with Nye's suggestions. "Yeah, that's perfect! We've been needing another roommate anyway!"

"You do realise," GC explained to Kirb with his usual expressionless face, "the only free space for him will be in your room."

Instantly Kirb's attitude flipped and he glared in Nylocke's direction. "Hey, what the hell Nye, don't offer away my room like that!"

Nye just crossed his arms and smiled knowingly. "You were just about to offer it to him anyway, Squire."

"Yeah, well," Kirb stuttered, "i-it's the principle of the thing, Nye!"

"Listen," Alpha interrupted, "if I'm gonna be in the way, I'll just-"

Kirb shook his head in Alpha's direction. "Nuh-uh, you're stayin' at ours! I'm not letting you turn this down, kid!" He grabbed Alpha's arm and started walking. "You come with us!"

Nye and GC fell into step behind Kirb, Nye waving goodbye to Flamey. "'Til tomorrow, Lady Flame!"

"Seeya!" Flamey replied, laughing as she turned and walked in the opposite direction.

 

* * *

 

GC opened the door to the apartment with a key secreted in his slimy body, and the four of them all walked through single file. Alpha was quite impressed. To his left was a small kitchen, leading to a living area in front of him that was barely visible under the piles of _stuff_ left all over the lounge, coffee table and floor. Kirb, apparently not wanting to stick around, made a beeline for a door just beyond the kitchen. "You guys show 'im around, I'll be ready in a minute!" With that, the door slammed shut behind him, leaving Alpha, Nye and GC standing stunned in the entranceway.

"Well," Nye spoke up, "I suppose you've noticed our kitchen right here Sir Alpha, and our living room over there, pardon the mess." He waved an arm around the apartment, walking further in. Alpha also stepped further into the apartment, allowing GC to close the front door behind them. "Over here is mine and Sir Gamecrazed's room!" Nye opened a door opposite to the one Kirb had disappeared into, and Alpha walked over to peek in. Nye and GC's small bedroom was a lot tidier and cleaner than the living area. Nye's bed was unmade, and the tub serving as GC's had the occasional purple stain, but there was very little on the floor.

"My tub is old," GC explained, making Alpha jump as he realised the slime was standing directly behind him. "That's why it's stained."

"I, uh, guessed," Alpha mumbled.

Nye, Alpha noticed, had meanwhile removed the shoulderpads of his brawling armour, which he tossed in the general direction of his bed before sweeping off to the other side of the apartment. "The bathroom, Sir Alpha! You will find it located next to yours and the Squire's room!" He tugged open a door next to Kirb's, and Alpha went over to check it was indeed a bathroom, with a shower, toilet and sink inside.

"Looks good," the wengal said with a nod, turning to Nye. "It's a nice place. Even if it is a little messy."

"I try to keep it clean," GC replied.

Nye nervously laughed, running a hand over his orange hair. "Yes, well, most of that is the Squire's fault, I think you'll find!"

The door behind Nye opened and Kirb poked his head out, his patched green hat gone. "I heard that!" Nye laughed again and sped off towards his own room without a word, so Kirb turned to Alpha, opening the door and beckoning him over. "C'mon, I've got you somewhere to sleep."

Alpha carefully entered the room behind Kirb and took a moment to look around. Part of Nye's remark had obviously been true, as this bedroom, no bigger or smaller than Nye's, was far messier, but a significant space had been cleared out on the floor. In the space lay a blue and red sleeping bag, with a pillow placed at the head and a couple of blankets lain over it.

"I know it's not much," Kirb said, waving a hand at the floor, "but it's all we can do until you get a proper bed."

Alpha smiled. "It's perfect."

Kirb paused. "I knew that," he muttered, then turned and headed for the door. "Sleeping bag's mine by the way, but you can borrow it for now."

Left alone in his new bedroom, Alpha sat down on his makeshift bed. _'Looks like things are gonna be okay,'_ he thought with a grateful sigh.


	4. Passing Time

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Perhaps the most unique part of Wengal culture are their face-tattoos, a representation of the individual's status both socially and personally. They are given at birth and often changed several times throughout their life to reflect changing roles. The lowest rank of tattoo is known as the 'fledgling' mark, and consists of two stripes on the face, one over each eye. Most children have grown out of the mark by their preteens, meaning it is often seen as a shameful thing for a teen or adult to wear. The highest rank is conversely known as the 'master' mark, and circles the entire face. Inbetween these two extremes, markings vary in placement from cheeks to forehead to chin, and can be symmetrical or asymmetrical in various ways. Tattoos are usually done in black, but it is becoming increasingly common for them to be more colourful in variety._

**thx dude! no wonder you're so proud of that thing -B**

**Is this why you're Web master then? -R**

**Just stop calling it 'ridiculous', Bits. Rubi, it's complicated. Find me. -W**

 

* * *

 

"We'll ring when those new glasses come in!" Alpha called cheerfully as he sat back down at his desk. "Seeya then, Mister Raven!" The black-winged wengal he was talking to nodded curtly and exited the clinic, and as the door closed, Alpha let himself sigh in relief. He was beyond grateful to Flamey for helping him get this job (not to mention everything else she had done for him, a passing stranger in her restaurant!), but he always hated it when other wengals came in. It was slowly getting easier over the handful of months he'd been working, and he liked it best when, as was the case today, the difficult customers were at the end of the day.

The front door swung open again and Alpha heard a cheerful voice exclaim "Sir Alpha!"

"Nye!" Alpha sprung back to his feet with a grin, spotting both Nylocke and GC approaching his desk. Although GC looked no different than usual, Nye was dressed in his work uniform, the blue polo shirt and black pants of the supermarket two blocks away. "GC! What are you guys doing here?"

"We were in the area," GC explained, "and noticed you would be finishing work soon."

"So we decided to drop by!" Nye cried, throwing his arms wide and then leaning on Alpha's desk. "Today is a most glorious day, is it not?"

Alpha nervously giggled. "I've had better."

"Nylocke was offered a promotion," GC added.

"Really!?"

Nye tapped the desk with a claw, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Well, I have not yet accepted nor rejected the offer, as kind as it was." He stood up straight and rubbed the back of his neck. "I fear taking it may restrict my ability to help our fair customers, although I do not deny there would be benefits to accepting it."

Alpha smiled, thinking there was no reason that was more 'Nylocke' than that. "You'd have to be crazy to turn it down, Nye!" He thought for a moment, then giggled "For one thing, with Kirb's track record, we could use the extra money!"

The thought of Kirb's inability to keep any job he took tickled Nye's sense of humour enough to make him softly laugh too, and even GC seemed amused in his own way.

"Track record of what?" cried an annoyed-sounding voice behind them, and Nye and GC turned around in surprise to see a young brunette girl sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting area, a backpack next to her and an abused-looking book in her hands.

Noticing his friends' (well, Nye's at least) confused looks, Alpha just smiled at the human girl. "It doesn't matter, Granda. We're just talking." He had almost forgotten she was there himself, as Granda patiently waited there every afternoon after school for her father, Alpha's boss, to finish work.

Nye blinked as the name clicked in his mind. "Lady Granda! I did not recognise you outside of your brawling suit!" He grinned and shot her a thumbs-up. "Our little stegosaurus is doing well, I hope!"

Granda glared in reply.

The back door opened and a large blond man strode out. "Ah, I thought I heard you out here, Nylocke!"

Nye threw him a mock salute. "Greetings, Sir T-Bones! Sir Gamecrazed and I were dropping in on Sir Alpha here, if that's alright."

T-Bones laughed, walking around to where Granda sat. "That's fine by me, boys. We're just closin' up now." He rubbed his daughter's hair affectionately, laughing as she made moves to bite his hand.

"We won't keep you, sir," Alpha said, shutting down his computer.

Granda stood from her chair, placing her book on her seat and pointing dramatically at Nylocke. "Just you wait, dragon-man!" she announced menacingly. "This Saturday, I'm gonna tear your limbs off! WITH MY TEETH!"

Nye laughed nervously. "Of course, young dinosaur girl..."

 

* * *

 

The trio walked together down the street towards their home, avoiding the general busy-ness of people heading home from work or, as they planned on doing, heading to the park for the brawling meetup.

"Speaking of Kirb," Alpha spoke up, breaking the companionable silence, "I hope he's not gotten fired again. This is probably the longest he's kept a job for, right?"

Nye thought for a moment. "I don't really keep track, I'm afraid," he admitted. "I'm not even sure what his current one _is_."

"It's been a week," GC spoke up. "Although I don't know for sure, I'm inclined to agree with Alpha."

They walked in silence until they reached their apartment door. Alpha was feeling impatient to get into his brawling gear and get to the park, so he cut in front of his friends to open the door with his own key, only to pause in the door as he walked in and spotted Kirb, dressed in his green brawling rags, sitting on the couch.

"Um. Hey," Kirb cried, smiling at his friends innocently.

Alpha sighed and headed for his room without a word.

"Lost your job again, Squire?" Nye asked as he walked in.

"N-no!" Kirb protested. "I, um, had a misunderstanding with my boss and I got off work a little early today!"

GC crossed his arms. "If by 'misunderstanding', you mean about whether you still had a job with him or not."

Kirb looked offended but then giggled. "That was actually a good one, GC," he admitted.

Alpha closed the door behind him. The bedroom he shared with Kirb had changed a lot in the few months he'd been there. For one, he no longer needed to borrow Kirb's sleeping bag, instead having his own bed against the wall opposite Kirb's. It was also a lot tidier, as Alpha had taken it upon himself to start putting things away in his spare time, often to Kirb's annoyance as it messed up his 'system' of putting everything on the floor.

He'd left his brawling outfit on the bed as always, so it was quick and easy for Alpha to strip out of his work clothes and swap them over. He still felt wary calling it a 'brawling outfit', to be honest, as it was actually mostly just the clothes he'd been wearing when he first arrived in Lavendera City; He only wore the scarf if it was cold, and the shirt he'd starting feeling brave enough to leave at home.

Alpha's thoughts turned to his friends outside. It eluded him how Kirb managed to not only find jobs but subsequently lose them only a matter of days later, and yet still have the money for his share of the rent every month. Granted, said share had shrunk since Alpha moved in, but it was still weird.

Pulling on his tanktop, Alpha put his worries out of his mind and stared at his shirt and scarf sitting on his pillow. He wanted to leave them both here, but he also couldn't forget the way T-Bones' last customer had looked at him only minutes beforehand... He sighed and grabbed the shirt. 'It's too hot for the scarf,' he thought.


	5. Tournament

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The Batwings began as a sub-tribe of the Wengals, who had chosen leathery wings over their brothers' feathered ones. This quickly caused animosity without the distraction of war with the Dragons, and sparked a civil war that saw the Batwings move westward to found their modern nation of the Batwing Conglomerate. Like Wengals, they appear human except for wings and a short tail, but their wings are more leathery, like Dragons or bats, and their tails, lacking the feathers of their counterparts, are thin and whip-like. They are also heavy practitioners of magic, and although they are friendly to Wengals today, there was much animosity between them for many centuries, resulting in two separate wars where each race attempted to wipe the other out. Interestingly, in recent times there has sprung up a subculture in the Conglomerate of flightless Batwings, who still have wings and tails and practise magic, but their wings are too small for flight._

**Can we really class the small-wings as a subculture? -E**

**Please find me to discuss it Execk, but I was under the impression you implied it to me once? -W**

**Why are we all talking in questions here? -R**

**Cool, can I join in? :D -K**

**WILL EVERYONE STOP SCRIBBLING ALL OVER MY NOTES. -W**

**c-c-combobreaker? -B**

 

* * *

 

As the four turned the final corner towards the park, Alpha pulled off his shirt and tied it around his waist by the sleeves. Nye and Kirb had spend the short walk loudly discussing tactics and who they were hoping to fight today, and it had sufficiently chased the bad day at work from Alpha's mind. He had no idea if it was deliberate by them or not, but he was thankful for the distraction regardless.

"Something's going on," GC said, and although it was a quiet statement, Nylocke and Kirb quit their conversation to look back at him.

"Pardon?" Nye asked.

Kirb, noticing GC's gaze past them, looked ahead to the park. "Hold up," he said, "he's right. There's somethin' going on at the park."

Alpha and Nye looked ahead. There was a large crowd there, though this was usual. What was odd about it was that, instead of being spread out in clumps, with free spaces set out for ongoing brawls, everyone was standing together in the centre of the grass. As they got closer, they even spotted Flamey walking back and forth across the pavement, idly whipping up fireballs on her fingers and crushing them between her hands.

The group of four finally reached the park and made a beeline for their friend, who sighed in relief as she spotted them. "Guys! You won't believe what's going on!" she cried with an excited smile.

"Has the meetup been cancelled?" Nye asked warily.

Flamey shook her head. "Nope! You can't see from here, but there's a stall in there everyone's crowded around; They're doing sign-ups for an opportunity to be a _professional_ brawler!"

"Huh," GC muttered in muted surprise.

"Really!?" Alpha cried in mixed excitement and astonishment.

"Indeed!?" Nye agreed, only to calm down and add, "What does this 'opportunity' entail? Do they say?"

"Yup!" Flamey said with a nod. "There's a big tournament happening over in Mechcity in a couple months! Next week they're gonna do prelims here in Lavendera with us 'amateur' brawlers and the best ten will go up against professionals!" She bounced in excitement. "If we're good enough, we could get _signed up_ by big sponsors! Wouldn't that be _amazing_!?"

Alpha laughed. "Yeah, that'd be great! Right, Kirb?" He turned to their shifter friend, only to find him facing away from the group, stock still. "Kirb?"

Kirb was standing a little away from the group, as though whatever he was staring at had caught his attention just before they started talking to Flamey. He was looking both scared and shocked, eyes wide and mouth hanging open just a little.

"What's wrong with him?" Flamey whispered as her excitement also turned to concern.

Alpha turned to see what had preoccupied their friend so thoroughly, but all he could see in that direction was a small red cat, sitting at the edge of the grass by the corner, staring straight back at them with a twitch of its tail. "Are you staring at that cat, Kirb?" he asked incredulously.

Kirb jumped as he finally registered he was being addressed, and turned to face his friends. "What? No!" he insisted, face turning red. "I just got, y'know, thinking about how much I'd like to fight that Dustbunny today!" He nervously laughed, eyeing the nearby crowd. "Let's, um, go and see whatever it was Flamey was talking about just now!" Pretending nothing was wrong, he stormed off towards it.

Nye laughed. "Now now Squire, don't you try to hide it!"

Kirb stopped in his tracks, looking back at Nye nervously. "Hide what?" he asked in a forced cheery tone.

"You're scared of cats, aren't you?" Nye chuckled.

"What!?" Kirb cried, fear turning to anger in a millisecond. "I am _not_ scared of cats!"

Flamey and Alpha glanced at each other before joining in on Nye's teasing. "Yeah, you are!" Flamey retorted, already leading the group of five towards the stall in the centre of the crowds. "We could see it in your face!"

"I am _not!_ " Kirb repeated.

"If it helps," GC spoke up, "I believe you, Kirb."

Kirb crossed his arms. " _Thank_ you!"

"You're still scared of cats, though," Alpha couldn't resist saying, fighting back laughter.

None of them looked back to see the red cat watch them disappear into the crowds, then turn around and dash off down the road.

 

* * *

 

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean!?" Flamey shouted angrily at the human sat behind the stall.

"I'm afraid it means exactly what I said," the young woman answered calmly, straightening a name badge on her dress that read 'Anneva'. "Teamwork is a big part of how Two-Team Brawl works, so everyone must sign up in pairs if they wish to participate."

Flamey growled loudly and stalked off, and her four friends followed closely. What the innocent booth-girl had told them made perfect sense, which only made it even more frustrating that it had not occurred to any of them beforehand that sign-ups would be for _pairs_ and not individuals... and they all knew it was impossible to perfectly pair off a team of five.

Reaching a sufficiently clear section of grass, Flamey let out a short yell and stomped the ground. "I can't believe it!" she cried.

"Don't blame yourself, Lady Flame," Nye spoke up, sympathetically placing a hand on her shoulder. "We _all_ got caught up in the fantasy and didn't think it through."

"I can make it easier," GC spoke up. "If I sit out, the four of you can pair up together. I don't mind."

Alpha shook his head. "Nuh-uh, if anyone's sitting out, it's me!" he insisted. "I've only been doing this a couple months; I don't stand a chance against pros!"

"You stand a better chance than most of _them!_ " Kirb objected, gesturing to the crowd. "You _have_ to sign up, Alpha! Show 'em what you're made of!"

"I can't!" Alpha shouted. "You guys deserve this; I'd just get in the way!"

"You would _never_ be in the way!" Flamey insisted, but Alpha wasn't listening.

"I'm going for a walk." The young wengal shoved his hands in his pockets and stubbornly walked off in a random direction.

Nye held his hands together in worry. "Sir Alpha?"

"Alpha, come back!" Kirb cried.

GC looked away and crossed his arms. Alpha had made his decision, and there was nothing they could do to stop him.


	6. Robbery

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Slimes are a most unusual species, estimated to have existed since the dawn of time, although no-one quite knows how they work biologically, not even the Slimes themselves. They predominantly live in Mucasia, and consist of eyes and a lot of malleable slime. They have no set form, but with practise can take on one or more and hold them for significant periods of time. They cannot, however, hold a form while sleeping, and thus require a sturdy container large enough to hold them instead of a bed, typically a small tub or large bucket. Their bodies and even eyes can be a variety of colours and translucencies, ranging from completely transparent to opaque green to semi-visible red. Slimes as a species lack separate sexes and genders, so it is advised to always check an individual's preference for gendered words when not speaking their native language._

 

* * *

 

It was starting to get dark. Alpha figured by now the brawling meetup would be dispersing, and thus his friends would have signed up in their pairs and gone home. The methodical clunk of his shoes hitting the pavement rang in his ears, and he wondered which pairs they'd settled on. If he had to bet on it, he would see Nye and GC working together best, which would put Kirb and Flamey together, as much as they sometimes hated each other. Nye and Kirb also made a good pair though, and Flamey worked well with GC when they fought together, although the same could be said for Flamey with Nye and Kirb with GC.

Alpha squeezed his eyes shut. He definitely wanted his friends to be happy, and a part of him knew he didn't deserve to possibly become a professional brawler after only a few months practising. The hardest part was convincing himself he could make it not hurt when he would inevitably end up sat in that massive stadium watching his friends be successful, knowing there had been no room for him to join them. Another, smaller part of him wished his friends would mutually decide not to do anything without him, but he was trying to shut it out, not wanting to be disappointed when he eventually returned home and heard who was teamed with who.

A shout echoed through the streets, and Alpha perked up immediately. It seemed to be coming from up ahead, so he ran down the path with the aid of his wings until he spotted movement down a street on his right. A small old man with a long beard and large hat was trying and failing to hold on to a small bag that a raccoon-like shifter boy and an older green slime were pulling out of his hands. In moments, the two thieves had the bag in their possession and knocked the old man down before the shifter threw down the skateboard tied to his back and jumped on. The slime morphed into a smaller body and joined his friend, the pair laughing as they pushed off.

Alpha frowned. If there was one thing brawling had done for him, it was give him the confidence to stand up for himself, and he refused to just stand by and let injustice happen when there was something he could do about it. Flaring his wings, he made a leap towards the skateboard heading in his direction.

The slime spotted Alpha first, morphing back into his larger form to throw his whip-like arms at the wengal, knocking him to the asphalt face first. The raccoon-shifter laughed loudly as he brought their 'vehicle' to a stop, and gloated "Dat's why you don't mess wit' us, porcupine-head!"

Fighting past the pain in his nose and forehead, Alpha glared up at the pair and forced himself to stand up. This only made them both laugh, and this time it was the young shifter who stepped forward, launching himself at Alpha's face and shifting his claws longer and sharper, flailing as he tried to injure as much of Alpha as he possibly could. The wengal responded by flapping his wings and jumping backward, throwing up his leg to kick the confused kid right in the middle. The furball fell to the ground, dramatically crying in pain, and the slime took only one look at him before glaring in Alpha's direction. "That's it, kid-gloves off, feather-face!"

Alpha suddenly realised confronting these two may have been a bad idea.

The wengal decided his best bet was to turn and run, but the slime was hot on his tail and flung out his whiplike arms again, grabbing Alpha by the waist and throwing him bodily across the road and into an alleyway, landing on a pile of full garbage bags that exploded on impact and caked Alpha in the various bits of stinking rubbish they contained.

The two thieves laughed as they sped away down the street.

Groaning, Alpha pulled himself up into a sitting position and tried not to gag at the smell now covering him. His wings felt sticky and his tanktop was full of tears from the shifter's scratches. His tail was protected from the garbage by the shirt still tied around his waist, but the rough landing had hit the worst there and Alpha was wary about moving it too much just yet, trying to gather up the energy to stand so he wasn't sitting on it quite so painfully. Alpha reached up a hand to cover his nose and felt something wet on his lip, which he quickly confirmed was blood. He tried not to groan again at the thought he might have both a broken tail and nose, and simply let it bleed; His clothes were badly in need of a thorough wash anyway, so blood getting on them wasn't such a big deal at the moment. Not to mention, his skill at healing magic wasn't near enough to fix broken bones.

Alpha's head ached. It was hurting to think, so he stopped. Just a few minutes rest, then he would decide on his next move.

He never saw an indescribable _something_ slither out from underneath a dumpster and hide inside the body of the shirt tied around his waist.

 

* * *

 

When Alpha unlocked and opened the front door of his apartment home, the first thing he saw was that all four of his friends were gathered in the living room, looking back at him with surprised grins that quickly turned from relief to concern.

"Alpha, what the hell happened to you!?" asked Flamey.

"We were worried sick!" Kirb added.

"We couldn't do it without you!" Nye cried hysterically. " _You didn't need to go dumpster-diving, Sir Alpha!_ "

GC remained silent, but did reach out and place a hand on Nylocke's vambrace, which seemed to calm him down somewhat.

Alpha closed the door behind him and carefully pulled off his shoes before stepping on the carpet. "I'm sorry for worrying you. It's a long story."

"If you wanna clean up first," Kirb said, waving a hand as he noticed the stench, "feel free to do that."

Alpha couldn't help a short laugh. "I think I will," he agreed, but his walk to the bathroom was called to a halt when Nye raised a hand.

"Sir Alpha," the draconian cried, "one thing before you go in..." He took a deep breath, looking around their friends before smiling at Alpha. "We all decided not to sign up for the tournament."

"It didn't feel right doing it without you," Flamey added with a gentle smile.

"Not to mention we couldn't sign you up behind your back," Kirb explained with a wry smile. "They take a picture of you after signing your name for their records, and insisted everyone had to sign themselves!" He waved his hands around in a vague implication that the whole system didn't make any sense at all.

"We know it would have hurt you to not be included," GC said. "You're our friend. It wouldn't make sense to leave you out."

Alpha wasn't sure at first what to think, but then let a wave of gratitude wash over him as he smiled at his friends. "Thanks," he whispered, forcing himself not to tear up.

As his friends made themselves comfortable in the room, Alpha began to walk towards the bathroom, pulling at his shirt sleeves to untie it from his waist. Freeing the garment, he held it up, ready to place on the tiled floor with his shoes.

Then the shirt came alive in his hands.


	7. Attack

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Dragons and their Draconian offspring usually hail from Dracomire, the central hub of Dragon activity since before records exist. Full-blood Dragons are snake-like in body, and can fly whether or not they have wings. They are rarely seen by outsiders, picking out their territory in youth and never venturing from it until their deaths. Although scaled, they are not always green, as is popularly believed due to the wide exposure of the predominantly green humanoid Draconians. In fact, the Draconian race was formed from the adventures of one single Dragon by the name of Scaleen. Although exactly what she did has never been specified (specifically the 'how'), she travelled the world and visited every other existing species before laying a clutch that hatched the first Draconians. It was from Scaleen that Draconians get their green, scaly skin and red hair, the most dominant traits of the species. Other colours of scales and hair are slowly increasing in number however, due to the Draconian's unique ability to interbreed with other sentient species. Culturally, Dragons and Draconians place a heavy importance on respect and honour, addressing others commonly as 'Sir' or 'Lady', although particularly close friends may be granted exceptions depending on the individual._

 

* * *

 

Alpha dropped the wriggling shirt in surprise, giving a small shout that got everyone else jumping to attention. A lump formed inside the dumped fabric, moving back and forth before a small tendril of amorphous _grey_ poked out, yellow stripes flickering up and down its being.

Instantly Kirb reacted, jumping at Alpha and screaming "GET DOWN!" The wengal was knocked against the kitchen counter, and as he turned his head up from its new position on the floor, he saw the grey _thing_ leap out of its hiding place and jump on Kirb, who was standing where Alpha had been, the amorphous cloud expanding to match Kirb in size as it clawed at the shifter with its multiple tendrils. Kirb, his face covered by the unearthly creature, flailed wildly in his attempts to fight it off, and it was clear he was in a great amount of pain.

The first to react was Gamecrazed, who shot off balls of shadow magic at the creature as Kirb's flailing exposed it in his direction. Flamey and Nye quickly joined in, shooting off fireballs and icicles respectively; None of the three were prepared to attack it from any closer, having no idea what it was capable of or might do. Alpha, who was facing Kirb's back, could only watch and stay low to avoid any wildly aimed magic projectiles, but was still determined to help despite his exhaustion. He frowned in determination as an idea struck him, then acted out his hurried plan by swinging out a leg that knocked Kirb's feet out from underneath him, toppling the shifter to the carpet.

The knock was enough to dislodge the _thing_ from its target, and it stood tall on the carpet for only a moment as Kirb lay below, recovering his breath, and the other three paused in their missiles to reevaluate the situation.

Alpha was feeling pretty good about his heroic actions right up until the thing made a dive for him.

 

* * *

 

Alpha's screams echoed around the apartment. Flamey, Nye and GC stood paralysed, unwilling to attack the creature in the fear they would accidentally hit the friend it was currently cocooning in its tendrils. Kirb took a moment to recover before he seemed to notice what was going on, and rolled towards the mass, pulling out the katana still strapped to his belt. However, even he was too late to react, as his sword missed the creature by millimetres, becoming embedded in the counter Alpha was lying next to. Alpha's screams had stopped, and the creature seemed to be _sinking_ into his body. Kirb tugged on his sword only twice before, accepting his inability to dislodge it, he sprang to his feet and dashed to the nearest of his friends, Flamey, pulling her away.

"Wait, Alpha!" Flamey objected.

"We need to get back!" Kirb ordered. "Trust me!"

Flamey refused to listen, pushing Kirb away from her. "No, we have to help him!"

"Too late," GC said, and the two turned back towards the kitchen.

Alpha was visible again, lying peacefully still on the floor, with the creature seemingly vanished. The only problem was that Alpha's body was clearly _wrong_. The white feathers covering his wings and tail had turned black, while his red hair and pale skin had darkened considerably. His hands were deformed into lengthy claws, which occasionally twitched as they watched.

Nye reached for his sword handle and quickly magicked up its blade of ice. GC stood by him, his arm morphed into the spike he similarly used in brawl matches. Flamey and Kirb, too shocked and too close, did little more than take a small step back.

The deformed Alpha's eyes snapped open, glowing red and glaring in the direction of Flamey and Kirb.

Kirb's breath hitched. "Oh no," he whispered.

In the blink of an eye, Not-Alpha was standing, roaring as he made a feral leap at his selected targets, claws extended and ready to attack. Nye and GC were in front of their friends in moments, blocking the demon with their blades. With a loud cry, Nye swung his large sword, throwing the possessed wengal through the door into Kirb and Alpha's room.

GC turned to Kirb. "Get your sword," he advised. No-one needed to tell Kirb twice, and he dashed for the stuck katana to try again at pulling it free.

Not-Alpha was back out of the bedroom in an instant, this time dashing at Nye again only to be blocked by the ice sword. "No you don't, Demon!" Nye cried, but this time his sword swing was only dodged and the creature jumped on the sword itself, biting and clawing at it with seemingly no regard for its bearer; The weight of the wengal in addition to the heavy blade of ice was too much even for the strength of a draconian, and Nye was forced to drop his sword as it was pinned to the ground.

"Alpha, stop it!" Flamey shouted, shooting fireballs that only attracted Not-Alpha's attention. "We're your friends! We're trying to help you!"

The creature growled at Flamey, then made a leap for her, only to just miss as Flamey flapped her way across the apartment. Nye also didn't miss an opportunity, scratching at the creature with his own claws as it passed him before dashing to reclaim his sword.

GC took up the mantle of fighting Not-Alpha directly, popping out of the ground directly behind it and slashing with his arm-blade before retreating, angering the creature as it spun around in pain.

There was a loud crunching of wood, and Kirb finally pulled his katana free of the counter. He spun around, ready to fight again, and saw Nye, Flamey and GC trading blows on Not-Alpha, never letting it pay attention to one of them long enough to strike. Flamey also punctuated her fireballs with pleas to Alpha, which were all ignored as the creature grew more and more frustrated with its wily prey. As Kirb watched, it barely dodged a strike from Nye and turned its head toward Kirb. Glowing red met wide brown for only a second, then Not-Alpha had spun around and dived out the window with a crash of glass.

"Alpha!" cried Flamey, running to the window.

Nye pulled the batwing back, heading for the front door. "Outside!" Kirb was the first to reach it, and he led the group of four down the stairs and out into the dark and empty street, where Not-Alpha was crouching in the middle of the road, shattered pieces of glass littered all around him. It seemed almost like the creature hadn't anticipated the glass being there and was recovering, but when it heard Kirb's roar as he charged in its direction, it sprang to life and spun around to block his sword with its claws. Flamey was close behind him, circling to shoot fireballs that distracted it long enough for Kirb to swipe at its hands, cutting a thin red line across the creature's left palm and causing it to cry in pain. The distraction allowed Kirb to ready a second attack, summoning a great burst of wind that threw Not-Alpha into the air and hard against the opposite building with a crack.

The four friends looked up as the possessed wengal hung on the stone for a moment before falling to the ground and again being clouded in yellow-striped grey. Flamey ran to where he'd fallen, and the cloud leapt into the sky, over their heads and back into the street behind them, racing around a corner.

"You guys stay here!" Kirb ordered, and he raced after the cloud _thing_ with a glare, quickly disappearing.

Flamey fell by Alpha's side, pulling him close as she registered his body had returned to normal, complete with cuts and wounds from the battle and still reeking of the garbage from before. "Alpha!" she cried to her unconscious friend. "Alpha, wake up!"

Nye ran to follow Kirb and the cloud.

"Nylocke!" GC called, bringing his draconian friend to a halt. "We need to get Alpha to the hospital!"

Nye glanced between the road ahead and Alpha, uncertain what to do.

"You're the only one of us strong enough to carry him," GC added.

"But..." Nye whispered, then sighed. In the time he'd spent lollygagging, Kirb and the cloud would be long gone; After all, Kirb was the fastest of them all despite the speed-boosts Alpha and Flamey's wings gave them, and GC was right about Nye's strength being Alpha's quickest route to the hospital. He turned away from the road where Kirb had gone, racing to Alpha's side and praying that Kirb wouldn't do anything stupid. He could look after himself otherwise.


	8. Reunion

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Shifters are varied in appearance only by their own imaginations. The term came from 'shape shifter', and refers to their ability in youth to change their 'shape'. With the exception of Shifters from Kiziti Plains, they lose this ability in adulthood, settling on one look that they keep for the rest of their lives. It is theorized that Shifters are only so common worldwide because they once shared the Draconians' ability to interbreed, and simply took over the populations unlucky enough to befriend them over time. Reproducing is only possible now with other Shifters or Draconians, and poses less danger to Draconians as children are just as likely to be Shifter as Draconian._

**Notice how I don't single out anything as being 'ridiculous', Bitshrum. -W**

**yo dude, I said I was sorry! -B**

**Are we allowed to write on these again now, then? -R**

**Within reason, Rubi. -W**

 

* * *

 

Kirbopher ran.

Not far ahead of him, the grey cloud with yellow stripes zig-zagged its way down the street, occasionally turning a corner to the right or left. It was almost laughably easy for Kirb to keep up, and it was at times like these he was glad he chose a body that was speedy and agile. Of course, even he couldn't run forever; Through the everpresent fog in his mind, Kirb knew he had to stop the thing and fight it, and his best chance was to _think_ as hard as he could at the small, tingling feeling in the left side of his skull. Hopefully the signal would get through alright... after all, they couldn't be _too_ far away.

As if on cue, out of a side street came barrelling a gigantic, orange cat-like creature, which made a lunge for the cloud and whacked it with a massive paw. A white humanoid with spiky blue hair slipped off its back, dashing around the virus and shooting blue energy bolts to distract it. Kirb noticed with some shock that the bolts were coming from the shifter's mechanical left arm.

"You planning on helping, Kirb?" shouted the humanoid, keeping himself moving to avoid counter-attack as the large cat kept the cloud on its toes.

Kirb's grip on his katana tightened, and he jumped into the fray. "Long time no see, Zetto!" he replied, taking a swing at the cloud before backflipping away. "You too, Tigerlilly!"

The large cat didn't respond, and neither did Zetto, who simply weaved around Kirb to attack the cloud from another angle, taking care not to touch the smaller shifter. The virus, apparently having had enough of being chased and attacked for one night, leapt away from Tigerlilly, over Kirb and Zetto's heads and down the street in the direction of the forest outside the city.

Kirb made to run after it, but a giant paw blocked his path. As he looked up in confusion, the giant cat transformed into a humanoid woman with yellow, cat-like eyes and a flat nose. She patted Kirb on the shoulder with the smallest of smiles. "Let it run and lick its wounds. We'll track it down tomorrow, somewhere out of the way."

Zetto approached, taking care to keep Kizuna between him and Kirb, who he stared at with a blank expression. "We'd better get back to camp. Are you going to join us?"

"Of course I am!" Kirb cried, putting his katana back in its sheath. "I want an explanation! What's the virus doing _here_ and why didn't you warn me at the park, like, two hours ago!?"

Kizuna chuckled. "Then we'll show you where we are," she simply said, beckoning the short shifter as she walked off down the street, Zetto not far behind her.

 

* * *

 

It took a few tries before Nylocke was comfortable with how he would be carrying Alpha. Flamey also debated about removing his damaged and blood-stained socks and tanktop, but eventually decided to leave them on if only to keep the wengal warm in the cold night. They wrapped him in Nye's cape and, after fetching a map, headed off towards the nearest hospital.

"Is there anything we can do about the glass on the road?" GC asked.

Flamey groaned. "I don't want to even _think_ about that right now..."

"When we get back," Nye suggested, "we can tell the landlord's office."

"Agreed," Flamey sighed, rubbing her eyes with one hand and looking up at the shock of red hair poking out of Nye's cape. "I hope Alpha's okay..."

GC peered over at her from the other side of Nye. "He'll be fine," he assured Flamey, then held out his map for Nye. "We need to turn right at this next corner."

Adjusting Alpha in his grip, Nye made a note of the upcoming turn. "What will we tell them? They won't believe that an otherworldly creature possessed him, surely!"

"Well, he was already injured when he got home," Flamey pointed out. "I guess we'll have to say we found him like this."

"As much as I hate to lie," GC chimed in, "I agree with Flamey. Alpha didn't get a chance to explain what happened to him before everything happened."

Nye nodded, grimly staring ahead as they reached the corner. "Then that's what we tell them."

 

* * *

 

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Kirb."

"Are we there yet?"

" _No_ , Kirb."

"Are we there yet?"

"No, Kirb!"

"Are we there yet?"

Kizuna growled in frustration, restraining herself from tossing her torch at Kirb's head. "Y'know, I _was_ just thinking about how much I was missing you. Glad to see you can still be annoying as hell."

Kirb shot her an innocent grin, although she couldn't see it from her position in front of him. In front of her, navigating through the trees, was Zetto, and Kirb almost giggled as an idea struck him. "Hey, Zetto! Are we there yet?"

Zetto briefly glanced back before returning his attention to their trail through the woods. "Obviously not. We're still walking."

"Don't encourage him," Kizuna sighed.

"I don't see how I am," Zetto replied.

Kirb pouted. "You're no fun."

"You do realise who you're talking to, right?" Kizuna pointed out.

"Shut up."

 

* * *

 

Flamey told their story to the receptionist at the emergency ward while Nye carefully extricated Alpha from his cape. GC appointed himself to do the paperwork. Nye and Flamey's brawling gear got them some suspicious looks, but luckily, as the trio were all uninjured from their fight, the doctors were convinced to believe they weren't covering up a brawling injury and took him in.

Thus commenced a very long wait.

"Our apartment must be a mess," Nye wondered aloud, leaning forward in his chair. "Do you think the Squire has returned there?"

Flamey sighed and slumped in her seat. "That reminds me, Sat and Whyti will be wondering where I am! I'd better call them."

"There's a public phone over there," GC helpfully pointed out, and Flamey dashed across the waiting room to use it. Meanwhile, the slime turned to Nye. "I can return home if you wish to stay here with Alpha."

Nye smiled. "That would be much appreciated, Sir Gamecrazed. Although I must confess, I might be following you later." He leaned back in his seat. "They won't be letting us in to see him until tomorrow at the earliest. Once we get news of his condition, they may request we return then."

GC nodded. "I understand." He stood up and headed for the door. "I'll see you then."

"Safe travels, Sir Gamecrazed!" Nye called.

 

* * *

 

Zetto, Kizuna and Kirb emerged from the forest into a small clearing. Zetto shot an energy ball into the centre with his mechanical arm, hitting a small pile of wood and setting it alight. He and Kizuna switched off their torches and went to sit down on the two sleeping bags on either side of the fire, Kizuna's red and battered-looking and Zetto's newer and green. They each had packs by their sleeping bags, and Kizuna opened hers right away, putting her torch inside and pulling out cooking supplies. Zetto similarly went to his to remove tins of food.

Kirb stood around awkwardly for a few moments, watching his friends, then walked over to Zetto's sleeping bag. "Yo, dude, why are you avoiding me? And not even _trying_ to hide it?"

"I'm not," Zetto replied, "and I wasn't aware my actions were so obvious. I was avoiding you only because it was unsafe for us to touch at all before we reached camp."

"Unsafe?" Kirb repeated, confused.

"It's been over two years now, approaching three," Zetto pointed out, looking up at Kirb. "We might fall unconscious."

Kirb had to think for a moment before accepting the answer. "So...?" He crouched in the dirt, tentatively holding out a hand.

Zetto ignored him, placing the tins out in a row. "Kizuna, there's the food for you," he called, and once Kizuna had shot him a smile and a nod, he then turned back to Kirb and held out his right hand. "Let's go, then."

Kirb grinned, then reached out and took Zetto's hand in his.


	9. Resurgence

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Humans lack any form of magic or shifting ability, but they make up for it with their amazing mechanical ability. Humans are the only sentient being capable of building or programming Robotkind, and professional Human Brawlers are known to use gadgets of all kinds to aid their physical might. The highest regarded cooks tend to be Human, and it is Human records that stretch back the furthest out of all sentient races. They are widespread thanks to their highly prized abilities, but it is important to note that this doesn't mean every Human is a fantastic cook, builder or programmer, a misunderstanding that has caused more than its fair share of riots._

**Aw, I was blushing up to that last sentence! :3 -K**

**Make no mistake, Kindar, you're the most fantastic human I've met. -W**

**get a room -B**

 

* * *

 

The next morning was a busy one for Alpha. Once he'd woken up, wounds healed overnight by the nurses and doctors, he'd been directed to a shower to properly clean off the lingering smell from his encounter with the two thieves. His socks and tanktop, he later learned, had been thrown out, deemed irreparable, and his pants were being washed. Nye and Flamey, once they'd done smothering him with hugs out of pure relief he was alright, went out shopping to get him new clothes (a nice red jacket and matching pants that vaguely resembled his old blue outfit and had space for his wings and tail to hang free) and some boots.

Newly dressed and released from the hospital, Alpha finally had the time to tell his friends his story as they walked home.

"... and then he threw me into an alleyway and, well, next thing I knew, I was covered in garbage."

Flamey winced. "No wonder you looked so beat up."

"I presume the doctors asked about this?" Nye asked, scratching his chin in thought. "Have the police been informed?"

"I did talk to someone," Alpha admitted with a shrug. "He recognised my description. Apparently they're well-known serial pickpockets."

"Doesn't surprise me!" Flamey laughed darkly, then crossed her arms and glared into the distance. "Those two sound like real jerks. I hope they get caught soon."

Alpha sighed. "I just don't want to think about it anymore." He warily looked around at the passer-bys dotted around the street, then quietly admitted to his friends, "I'm actually more curious about what happened after I got home. I don't really remember it all that well."

Nye and Flamey glanced at each other. "Well," Flamey began, "whatever that thing was, it looked like it was possessing you."

"Indeed," Nye agreed. "We were lucky the Squire seemed to have some prior knowledge of whatever-it-was and got it out of you in time."

Alpha frowned. "So Kirb _does_ know what that thing was?"

"We think so," Flamey replied. "He was the only one of us who seemed to know what was going on."

"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to ask him," Nye chimed in. "Once the creature was out of you, it escaped. The Squire went after it." He crossed his arms, frowning in concern. "We haven't heard from him, but hopefully he'll be at home with Sir Gamecrazed."

Alpha sighed. "I hope so."

 

* * *

 

As they reached the street the four boys lived on, it was hard to miss the police barriers blocking it off from road traffic, and even harder to not see the small clean-up crew collecting the shards of glass scattered across the road. Their apartment window above, Nye pointed out, had been taped up from within with a spare bin bag, and they could only assume GC had put in a lot of time already to cleaning their shared home and giving their altered version of events to the relevant authorities. This assumption was proven right when Alpha unlocked the front door and he, Nye and Flamey entered the home and surveyed the damage.

The carpet was stained from where GC had travelled through it in the fight, and the numerous scratches littered the path from the kitchen to the window. The kitchen counter and one of its cabinets was badly damaged from Kirb's katana getting stuck inside. The sofa had been tipped over at some point from Nye's efforts and somehow ended up at the opposite side of the room, crushing several piles of stuff beneath it. All around the walls were telltale burn marks from fireballs that had missed their mark. Lastly, standing calmly in the middle of it all with a broom and a bin bag, was GC.

"Welcome back," the slime greeted the trio. "I started cleaning up."

Nye grinned. "And an excellent job you've done so far, Sir Gamecrazed!" He strode in, heading for his room as he began to shed his brawling armour. "Now, if you'll all excuse me for a moment, this armour has been chafing at my joints all night!"

Flamey and Alpha glanced at each other with amused smiles as the door to Nye's room closed, then Flamey asked GC, "Has Kirb gotten back yet?"

GC turned his head to the two doors on their left, and, as if on cue, the door to Kirb and Alpha's bedroom opened, revealing Kirb stuffing his red-and-blue sleeping bag into a backpack as he walked out of the room. "Hey GC, do you think the othe-?" He stopped mid-sentence as he saw Flamey and Alpha at the front door. "Oh." He turned to face them, swinging the backpack to the floor behind him with a nervous smile. "H-hey, guys! Alpha! I, um, washed your shoes and shirt for-"

"Kirb!" Alpha cried with relief, rushing over to give his friend a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Flamey followed Alpha, crossing her arms and glaring at the short shifter. "And just where did you go last night, Kirb?"

As Alpha released Kirb from the hug, the shifter nervously rubbed one arm, avoiding eye contact and tapping the carpet with one foot. "Um. I lost it," he admitted.

"I guess it was too fast even for you!" Alpha chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. Kirb joined in, but stopped when he noticed Flamey's continued glare. Remembering he had one other question, Alpha then added, "So, uh, Kirb? You knew what that thing last night was, right?"

Kirb didn't respond for several moments, and Alpha was beginning to wonder if he should repeat the question when the shifter mumbled, "No, no idea."

Flamey exploded. "Bullcrap!" she shouted, startling everyone else in the room into jumping back a few steps and almost causing Kirb to trip backwards over his dropped backpack. "We _know_ you know something about this, Kirb! Don't you dare lie to us! What the hell is going on!?"

Kirb tapped his fingers together, biting his lip as he thought for several moments. Eventually, he sighed and admitted, "I can't tell you."

"Can't?" Flamey repeated. "Or _won't_?"

Rolling his eyes, Kirb looked up with a grunt. "Does it _matter?_ "

"Of course it matters!" Alpha cut in before Flamey could reply, startling her and Kirb with the edge of anger in his voice through the faked laugh. "You saw what it did to me, Kirb! It destroyed our apartment!" The wengal could feel the hot anger building in his chest and spreading throughout his body. "If you guys hadn't got it out of me, who knows wh-!" The anger hit his head with a spike of pain, stopping Alpha in his tracks as he gripped it tightly with a pained cry.

"Alpha?" Flamey asked. "Are you alright?"

Alpha could barely reply; The pain was getting worse. "H-help...!" he managed to whisper, before his consciousness went dark.


	10. Maybe A Kiss

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_It is a negative stereotype that all Robots are logically-minded and literal with no sense of humour. Although this was true of early Robots, programming is leagues ahead of what it once was and Robots' personalities are more likely to resemble actual unique people than a series of automated responses to stimuli. Like Shifters, they are limited in appearance only by imagination, this time of the Humans who build them rather than their own. Robots also do not generally have programmed personalities that they stick to throughout their life, but change and grow with their experiences as a real person does, a programming breakthrough that caused a rapid increase in Robots being built within a year. The most recent development is a desire for Robots to separate themselves from Humans, building and programming themselves and taking on upkeep of their bodies without Human aid. This wish is not desired by all Robots or all Humans, and lengthy discussions continue._

**Thanks for the neutral outline of the separation issue. I appreciate it. -R**

**Anything for a friend, Rubi. Not that 'common decency' is much of a stretch here, haha! -W**

 

* * *

 

As Flamey, Kirb and GC watched, Alpha's white wings and tail began to blacken, and his fingers lengthened, their tips getting thinner and sharper. GC ran to his room while Kirb retreated into his, but Flamey instead got even closer to Alpha as his skin also darkened and his grunts of pain became more feral growls. She placed her hands on his shoulders and called, "Alpha! It's alright, calm down!"

Kirb reappeared in his doorway with his unsheathed katana held ready, and GC similarly ran out of his with Nye close behind, the draconian hurriedly throwing on bits of his brawling armour over a casual t-shirt and jeans he'd changed into.

"Alpha, c'mon, we're your friends!" Flamey pleaded, but the demon that had taken his place wasn't listening, snapping open dull red eyes and tossing her across the room. Kirb was the first to react, whacking into his deformed friend with the flat of his blade and pushing him further out into the room.

Nye jumped forward, crying "Come here, Demon!" He tried to grab said 'Demon', but he ducked Nye's arms and headbutted him to the floor. GC, perhaps in a pre-emptive effort to save the carpet, made a leap for Demon, who raised his arms to block the incoming attack, leaving an opening for Kirb to whack him in the side with his sword. Opponent appropriately startled, GC landed on his target and quickly wrapped around him, pinning his arms and wings to his side as the deformed wengal struggled to get free.

Flamey raced to Demon's side, gripping his shoulders firmly. "Alpha!" she called. "You can fight this, I know you can!" Surprisingly, Demon seemed to respond, struggling slightly less and squeezing his eyes shut. "That's it," Flamey encouraged him, smiling. "Come on, Alpha! Come back to us!"

Slowly, the dark colouration faded from Alpha's body, returning his wings and tail to their natural white colour. As the last of the effects disappeared, Alpha suddenly collapsed in GC's grip, and the slime released him to allow Flamey to support the wengal's weight. He opened timid blue eyes as Flamey caught him, looking up fearfully. "Flamey...?"

"Don't you worry, Alpha," the batwing assured him, and she helped him over towards his room, ignoring Kirb as he jumped out of the way. The pair disappeared inside, but Flamey stuck her head back out a few moments later to glare at the small shifter. "Don't you even think about going anywhere, Kirb," she threatened. "I'm not done with you yet!" With that, she closed the door.

Nye let out a relieved sigh. "I'm so glad Sir Alpha is okay!" he cried. "Although, um, I do have... other... things..." He nervously backed up and then outright turned and dashed into his room, similarly closing his door.

Kirb and GC just looked at each other. "Um," Kirb muttered after a few moments of silence. "I, uh, kinda have to go, so..."

"You can go," GC replied. "You are intending to go job-hunting, correct?"

Kirb blinked in surprise, then put on a large grin. "Y-yes! Exactly that!"

"Then I won't stop you," GC said. "I will explain to Flamey, and trust that you will return this evening."

At that, Kirb couldn't help glancing over at his abandoned backpack. "Um, yeah, I guess I will," he replied, then slowly turned and walked out of the apartment.

 

* * *

 

Alpha flopped onto his bed, vaguely noting Flamey returning to the door and talking to someone before closing it, leaving the two of them alone. He closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, leaning forward on his knees. He felt totally drained, and yet still had the energy for the vaguest thoughts of confusion running through his head. What just happened? And why?

A weight settled on the bed beside him, and Alpha noted with a quick glance that it was Flamey. Her hand reached out and rested on his knee comfortingly, and Alpha lowered his hands to look up at her gentle smile. "You alright?" she asked.

Alpha shrugged. "I guess. Tired." He sighed and leaned back to flop on his bed, his head resting on the wall and hands clasped on his belly. "What happened, Flamey?"

"I'm not sure," Flamey replied with a frown. "It was like that _thing_ had possessed you again, except it wasn't here at all..."

"Yeah," Alpha mumbled, eyes closed. "I remember more of it this time." Propping himself up on his elbows, he told his friend, "I remember Nye shouting at me and calling me 'Demon' for some reason. Oh, and I remember trying to attack you guys, but not wanting to hurt you. Last time, I remember I wanted you all dead!"

Flamey tapped her mouth with a finger. "That's odd. Anything else?"

Alpha thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No, nothing from the possession itself." He leaned forward again, arms crossed. "I do think my memories of when that thing first had me have gotten clearer though. That doesn't make much sense."

"No," Flamey agreed, mind on another matter. "Alpha, do you have any idea what might have triggered it?"

The wengal blinked in surprise, then frowned in further thought. "Um, last thing I remember before... _that_... was being really angry at Kirb." He looked up in panicked shock. "Why the hell was I so angry at him!? I remember what we were fighting about and I'm genuinely not angry about it, _why was I angry at him!?_ "

Flamey hugged Alpha tightly, forcing him to calm down from the self-induced panic. "We were surprised about that, too. It's not at all like you to get angry so easily," she admitted.

"I guess... whatever just happened," Alpha ventured, "is something to do with that thing and what it did to me last night. I get angry and... turn into a monster, I s'pose."

"Then we'll just have to make sure you don't get angry again," Flamey said with a confident smile. "Easy peasy, right?"

Alpha was silent for several moments, then leaned into Flamey's hug to return it. "Can I ask you something?" he whispered.

Flamey nodded. "Sure."

"Could you... stay with me?"

After a moment of surprised silence, Flamey nodded again. "Of course I will."

 

* * *

 

Flamey and Alpha stayed hugging for several minutes before finally Flamey broke it. "Are you hurt at all?"

Alpha shook his head.

"That's good." She gave him a quick glance-over anyway, then headed for the door and emerged into the main room. GC was still cleaning the general mess, but this time Nye had joined him, dressed in casual clothes and carefully moving the heavy couch back to its usual place.

Flamey crossed her arms in growing frustration. "Where's Kirb?" she demanded.

GC and Nye looked up. "He left," GC explained.

"He _what!?_ " Flamey growled.

"He is looking for a new job," the slime continued. "He will return later today."

Flamey paused for several moments, forcing herself to calm down. "He better," she snapped. She turned and headed back to Alpha's room before something occurred to her and she spun back around. "By the way," she announced, "I'll be staying in Kirb's bed tonight to look after Alpha. When Kirb gets back, you can tell him he's sleeping on the couch."

Nye looked over said furniture item in his arms. "I supposed Lady Saturndiva and Lady Whyti have been informed of your absence?" he asked.

Flamey groaned, facepalming. "I can't believe I forgot about them!" she cried, racing to the phone in the kitchen.


	11. Disagreements and Disapprovals

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The curse that lay on TOME's lands was most unique among the remnants of ancient magic that still exist in the world. It was also the most mysterious, eluding study by scientists for centuries. Grass and plantlife of all kinds would wither and die if planted from a pot, and refuse to grow at all if seeded. Animals would refuse to tread there, keeping well away from the borders of the dead land. Explorers who tried to cross it would either flee in sudden attacks of induced fear or slowly go mad. Reports are few and vague, as none who survived would talk about it, but those who fell prey to the madness were reported to suddenly turn on their companions as if they had become a feral animal, eyes glowing red and skin and hair dark. All who reportedly suffered this were said to have been killed by their comrades in self-defense. Such stories are dismissed by the scientific community as mere rumours, especially since the once-cursed land has been freed from the grip of the ancient magic._

**hey, you forgot to write about kiziti shifters! -B**

**I didn't forget, I had some facts to check first. -W**

**C'mon now, we all know that's code for 'I forgot'. -R**

**Webby, can we talk about this article please? :( -K**

 

* * *

 

It had gone dark several hours ago. Through the quiet streets ran a short, white-skinned shifter in ragged green clothing, a katana in a scratched sheath hanging from his belt. "Dammit, I spend _all day_ looking for those idiots and they don't have the _decency_ to be anywhere I can find them!" he mumbled darkly to himself. "Flamey's gonna kill me!" He turned down one final street and paused. The shattered glass and clean-up crew from that morning were long gone, replaced by a nervous looking sentinel who stood below the destroyed window, hugging himself tightly and staring at the pavement.

Kirb gulped. He could only guess that, if Nye was out here, there was something going on inside that he was avoiding. Their draconian friend was terribly obvious about his fear of drama, and there was certainly plenty of that going around right now. The shifter rested a hand on his katana to assure himself, then strode towards his friend.

Nye's long ears twitched at the approaching footsteps, and the draconian looked up, his face erupting into a smile. "Squire!" he cried, much quieter than his usual boom. "I was beginning to worry something had happened to you!"

Kirb faked a smile and waved a hand. "Eh, I just lost track of time is all," he admitted. "What's the matter?"

Nye looked away, tapping his claws together. "Well... it's Lady Flame."

"Of course it is," Kirb sighed. "She's still mad?"

"Well... yes," Nye answered, then suddenly grabbed Kirb's arms. "But please don't take it as a necessarily bad thing! After all, you keep running off and we're all worried about you, Squire!"

Kirb pulled himself out of the draconian's grip with a groan. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." He gingerly rubbed an arm, hoping Nye hadn't unintentionally bruised it.

"I do mean it, Squire," Nye said, and it struck Kirb that he'd never seen Nye so serious and sincere before. "Lady Flame gets angry at you, yes, but part of it this time is because we're all worried about you. Please don't keep running away from us, I beg you."

Kirb couldn't reply for several moments, and even then he had to take a deep breath to prepare himself. "I'm going up, Nye. You don't need to convince me."

The draconian nodded, and stepped back without a word to let Kirb pass.

 

* * *

 

Kirb was the first of the two to enter the apartment, and was unsurprised to see Alpha, Flamey and GC huddled on the couch and carpet watching TV. They all looked up and, spotting the shifter, stood up immediately, Flamey the only one to pause while she turned off the television. Kirb stepped into the apartment, nervously waving, but any greetings he planned to say were cut off as Alpha charged at his friend and threw his arms around Kirb, clinging tightly to Kirb's shoulders.

"I'm so glad you're alright!" Alpha cried, his grip on his friend loosening only so the wengal could lean back and face Kirb directly. "I'm so sorry for what happened before, I genuinely don't know why I got so angry at you so quickly, and we've all been so worried about you today, and yesterday too actually, and-!"

Pushing Alpha's hands off his shoulders, Kirb sidestepped the wengal's attentions, heading for their shared bedroom. "Um, yeah, well," he muttered, "no hard feelings, it's all fine."

"And where are you going?" Flamey spoke up, arms crossed as she stalked over to stand between Kirb and his room door.

Kirb resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Uh, my room?" he pointed out with a jerk of a thumb. "I kinda sleep there?"

"Not tonight you don't," Flamey replied. "I'm taking your bed." She pointed at the sofa behind her. "You're on the couch tonight."

"What!?" Kirb cried. "Why!?"

Flamey snapped, "Alpha's health, that's why!"

Behind Kirb, Alpha rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. "Sorry, Kirb..."

Kirb could only sigh. "It's fine," he insisted quietly, waving off his friends' concerns and pushing past Flamey to the empty couch.

Nye and GC shared a glance before Nye jumped forward to rush to Kirb's side. "Now, Squire, as I said, we're all worried about you, and we have been wondering, well, what you've been getting up to while you're away."

"Yeah!" Alpha agreed, joining Nye as Kirb flopped onto the couch with a snarl. "Where have you been? We've barely seen you since that thing attacked! You _did_ know what it was, right?"

Kirb rolled his eyes and refused to answer.

"If you will," GC piped up from the centre of the room, "we saw you run off the night of the attack. I must admit, I am curious to know what happened to you before you returned."

Loudly sighing, Kirb leaned backwards on the couch. "FINE," he snapped. "That night, I chased the v-... cloud thing _that I don't know what it is_ until it lost me. Happy?"

"And today?" Alpha prompted.

Kirb threw up his hands. "I already told you, I lost track of the time!"

"Job hunting?" GC filled in.

"Exactly!"

Flamey narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "After dark?"

" _Yeah_ ," Kirb replied insistently, returning her gaze with a defiant stare.

There was a long pause as the stare-down continued. Nye and Alpha shared a worried glance. "Kirb," GC spoke up, "you _have_ answered the questions we directly posed to you. It's getting late, and if everyone else doesn't mind, I'd like to go to bed now."

"Uh, y-yes!" Nye cried, trying not to look conspicuously nervous. "Let us all get a good night's sleep, a-and we can continue this conversation tomorrow when we are all well fed and rested! Yes?"

"Sure," Flamey mumbled, finally looking away from Kirb.

"Whatever," Kirb muttered, crossing his arms and staring at the ceiling.

With that, the small gathering of friends split up into their own rooms without a word. Kirb simply curled up on the couch where he lay.

 

* * *

 

In the small hours of the morning, a small white-skinned shifter in ragged clothing walked down the street, a katana in a scratched sheath hanging from his belt and a heavy backpack on his shoulders. He took one last look up at the taped-up window above, then turned and hurried away. Inside, the only evidence he had been there was a folded piece of paper resting on the empty couch, the words "I'm sorry" scrawled on the top.


	12. Turning Point

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The Kiziti Plains is widely considered the birthplace of the Shifter race, which would make the unique breed of Shifters who live there perhaps the most similar to their ancestors. While most Shifters settle on a single form when they reach adulthood, Kiziti Shifters settle on two or three, which they shift between at will for the rest of their lives. Their culture is highly tied to this unique attribute; Kiziti Shifters give each of their forms a different name, and it isn't unusual for them to refer to other forms as different people when it is convenient for them. Every Shifter has a 'main form' that keeps the name given to them at birth, usually a traditional name that is recognisable by its resemblance in some way to 'Kiziti' (examples include Kitina, Tizuk, or Zeket). Secondary forms have more 'exotic' names chosen by the individual, which they prefer to go by when using it (NB: 'Exotic' in this case meaning anything from Anne to Zenfire, i.e. not a traditional Kiziti name). Unfortunately, the unique Kiziti race is one that many nations refuse to acknowledge, and they face much prejudice outside of their home countries._

**I don't mean to be childish, but I did tell you that I didn't forget. -W**

**whatever dude, you totally forgot -B**

**Own up to it, boss! LOL -R**

**At least Webmaster is doing something useful with his time. Unlike you two. My office. -E**

**Go easy on them, Execk. I'm sure Rubi just needs a tune-up! Haha! -W**

**now who's being childish? -B**

 

* * *

 

_I'm sorry_

_I want to tell you guys what's going on, but it's just not possible. The more you know, the more you're in danger and I can't let that happen. You were right, the ~~vi~~ cloud thing was after me because I knew everything there is to know about it and that's why it attacked us. I'm really sorry Alpha, I really am. I didn't think it would come after me, since I ~~haven't~~ hadn't seen it in almost three years. I'm sorry I lied about ~~the~~ job-hunting. I was already planning on leaving, so I wouldn't put you guys in danger anymore. I'm sorry I won't be able to help you guys out anymore though, with both rent and your terrible brawling skills (kidding)._

_Please don't hate me. I just don't want you guys hurt anymore. And please don't come looking for me. I'm better off alone where I'm going._

_Your friend, Kirbopher_

 

* * *

 

Nye lowered the note in his hands, biting his lip to keep from tearing up. "Th-that's it," he whispered.

Flamey stood by the kitchen, hugging herself tightly. She dearly wanted to be angry at Kirb for running off without explaining, but she'd been angry at him so much over the past two days that it seemed her anger was spent, and she was left feeling blank. The spark of guilt for chasing him away herself was hastily squashed.

GC simply closed his eyes, standing by the sofa with Nye. He raised a hand and laid it on Nye's arm as a soft reassurance, something the draconian greatly appreciated.

Alpha was busy trying to keep calm, fists held tightly by his waist as he glared at the floor. He felt betrayed by Kirb's sudden absence and non-explanation, and was trying to keep in check the anger slowly burning in the back of his mind. "How _could_ he...?" he growled. "He just up and abandons us?"

Flamey started as she recognised the warning signs and ran to Alpha's side. "Alpha, calm down, he seems to have had a good reason!"

"I'm **_TRYING_** to stay calm!" Alpha suddenly shouted in Flamey's face, but any further actions were halted as he suddenly cried out in pain and gripped his head. " _No!_ " Against his will, his skin, hair and feathers rapidly began to darken, and his grunts of pain became feral growls.

"Alpha!" Flamey cried, grabbing her friend by the shoulders. "Alpha, we can talk through this!"

The Demon threw out its claws, throwing Flamey against the wall, then turned to Nye and GC, standing between it and the window. Red eyes glinted at them, and Demon lunged at the pair. Nye, lacking any of his brawling armour or his ice-sword, dove to one side, while GC formed his arm-blade and stood his ground. Demon crashed into him with a roar, slashing his claws and splitting the unfortunate slime into several small gooey puddles on the carpet. Before Nye or Flamey could react, the beast had gone out the window, tearing open the feeble trash bag taped over the broken glass.

Flamey had had her breath knocked out of her from her collision with the wall, and struggled to either inhale or exhale for several terrifying seconds, her aching wings draped over her shoulders in a kind of self-comforting gesture. Nye pulled himself to his feet and dashed to GC's amorphous body pooled in the carpet. "Sir Gamecrazed!" he cried, and the purple puddle slowly began to move, struggling to maintain a solid form. The draconian looked over to Flamey just as she finally managed to take a gasping breath, kneeling where she'd fallen. "Are you alright, Lady Flame?" he asked, and she nodded a reply in lieu of a spoken answer. Nye nodded back, then ran into his room to fetch his brawling armour. They were going to need it.

 

* * *

 

It was Saturday, and the park overflowed with the usual throngs of people of all races and species, whether there to participate or simply watch. The sign-up stall for the tournament still stood on one side, far less crowded than it had been two days previous, and the two young human women sat behind it had been replaced by a single middle-aged batwing, who cheerfully smiled and talked up the tournament for all who would listen. Between onlookers' feet wove a small, red cat, carefully avoiding the grabbing hands of curious children as it circled the crowds.

Down a side street came the sound of a roaring scream. Although it turned some heads, most of the crowd ignored it as just another sound of the city and continued on their business. When the scream was followed by a young wengal man with small black wings and piercing red eyes racing down the street towards the park, this was also mostly ignored. What could not be ignored however, was when said young man leapt on a small group of people, claws extended, and began slashing at them indiscriminately.

The crowd erupted into a panic. The small group of onlookers Demon had jumped on fled with terrified screams, prompting the panic to turn into a stampede. Children were held close by their guardians, and the red cat yowled as it just barely avoided being crushed by the hordes of rushing feet. A scarce few of the gathered brawlers stepped forward to face Demon, readying their various weapons.

"Alright, wise guy!" called a green slime with a long ponytail. "What kind of idiot all-out attacks a _brawling meetup_ and expects to get off scot-free, huh?"

"This kind of idiot, apparently," a shifter woman with grey bunny ears chuckled.

Demon just bared his pointed teeth at the group in a hideous imitation of a grin.

The green slime crouched, her ponytail rising over her head like a gun as it spat globs of goo in the wengal's direction. Demon easily avoided them, whacking some away with a swipe of his claws before leaping in the slime's direction. Before she or her brawling partner could react, Demon had splattered her across the grass much like he had to GC only minutes before.

"Splat!" cried the shifter woman, and she looked up at Demon with a wide-eyed glare. "Why the hell did you do that to her, idiot!?"

Another of the assembled brawlers, a young draconian with greasy black hair, jumped back. "I CHANGED MY MIND!" he screamed, and he turned and ran, red pants held high. His panic didn't do much for the already panicked onlookers or his accompanying brawlers, sparking a further frenzy of stampeding and distributing all of the small army standing against Demon, save for Splat's partner.

Dustbunny, giving up on calming the crowd, began to generate one of her distinctive smoke clouds. "Let's see you fight _this,_ " she called.

Happy to watch the panicked crowds, Demon paid her no mind until her smoke began to drift into his view, and his head snapped around to glare at her, growling.

"Don't like that, do you?" she chuckled.

Demon leapt at her.


	13. No Going Back

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

**Webmaster, I have a meeting with Plan Net tomorrow and I'd appreciate it if you could find time to attend too. You know those idiots don't listen to a thing I say until they've checked everything with you. -E**

**One of us could always go with you instead. If you're desperate, I could even use my hologram port to pretend to be Webby! -R**

**Now now, I didn't give you that thing to deceive people with ;) -K**

**What other use does a hologram port have!? -R**

**Execk, you know as well as I do that they often don't listen to me either, but if you think it'll make things easier I'll make time to come along. Rubi, Kindar, if you must argue, do it in person and not all over my encyclopaedia notes! -W**

**these aren't notes, it's a blank sheet of paper! someone would think you'd never heard of a computer with all this crap everywhere -B**

**Try looking on the other side next time, Bits. My reasons for using paper are my own. Now stop defacing all my photocopies. -W**

 

 

_One of the oldest forms of what is called 'secondary level' magic is illusion magic. It is, as its name says, the magic of illusions. The most famous example is the cliff face of Duckskull Island, which flickers between the images of a duck and a skull as it is observed, due to errors in its casting that remained uncorrected to this day. Illusion magic is otherwise most popularly used by, unfortunately, criminals and other ne'er-do-wells who use the skill to disguise their identity. Luckily for those of us on the side of justice, illusions complicated enough to completely disguise an identity are extremely difficult to hold, and are known to suddenly fail on ill-prepared criminals who cannot handle the energy demands the spell requires. It is for this reason the second most popular use of illusion spells are more widely known as "glamour" spells, used by individuals to commonly change things like hair colour, skin colour or even to hide or fake scars and tattoos._

**Or, when they're being used by robots, they're called 'holograms'. Even though they work exactly the same way. -R**

**You're not still bitter about that, are you? ;P -K**

**Why did you give me a hologram port if you never let me use it? -R**

**Thank you for the correction, Rubi. I'll remember to put it in the second draft. -W**

**oh hey, there WAS something on the other side! your photocopies are still dumb tho -B**

 

* * *

 

Nye, GC and Flamey raced to the park. GC was still finding it hard to keep a solid form, so Nye had helped him into his tub and was carrying his liquid friend under one arm, refusing to leave him behind. Flamey, although her chest and back still hurt, also insisted on coming along, having helped Nye into his armour inbetween finding and putting on her brawling gloves and boots. There hadn't been much time for anything else, none of the three wanting to let their possessed friend get too far away before they could calm him. It wasn't too hard to find him, given the screaming and the general rushing of people to get away from the park at all costs.

As they arrived, most everyone had gone, leaving the green expanse mostly clear. Remnants of smoke hung around in the air, focused mainly in the area around a shifter woman with rabbit ears, lying seemingly-unconscious in the grass near a green puddle of goo. Demon, standing over the two injured bodies, panted as he crouched, apparently tired out himself from the effort of fighting for so long.

"Alpha!" Flamey shouted, running for her friend.

Demon's head jerked up, and he turned to face the batwing with a frown. He held out his claws and ran at her, but Flamey was ready for him and side-stepped his attacks, grabbing him from behind with a tight hug.

"We're here for you, Alpha," Flamey whispered.

Demon stopped fighting, closing his eyes as he slumped in her arms. It only took a few moments for Alpha to open his eyes again, groaning in pain as Flamey helped pull him to his feet. "Not again..."

"Not to worry," Nye assured his young friend. "You appear to be safe, and that is-!"

"We need to get out of here," came GC's voice from the tub under Nye's arm, and a moment later, GC's reformed head poked out. "With the number of people who would have seen Alpha, it won't take long before someone investigates here."

The others all gasped in fear as they individually realised there was no hiding Alpha's problem this time. "S-surely they won't discount all of us assuring them Alpha was not under his own control?" Nye asked.

"No way," Flamey pointed out. "Look, we'll argue this later. Right now, let's just get out of here. Follow me!" Beckoning with one hand, the batwing turned and ran down a sidestreet, her friends close behind her.

Dustbunny's eyes cracked open as the four left, watching them disappear into the streets.

 

* * *

 

Saturndiva's cafe-restaurant wasn't open on a Saturday, but Sat was only too happy to unlock the doors and offer her pride and joy as an emergency rest stop for her batwing roommate. "I haven't seen you in, like, two days!" she cried to Flamey as she showed the group of four to a booth at the back, hidden from the door. "I hope you were planning on explainin' all this to me and Whyti like you said you would when you called last!"

Flamey nervously laughed as GC emerged from his tub, sitting with Nye and an exhausted Alpha in the booth. "Like I said, it's a bit complicated," she warned Sat. "Honestly, right now I'm a bit terrified that the police will be in here any minute to arrest us all as terrorists or something!"

"W-well, it's only a _small_ possibility!" Nye cried. "I still believe they will listen to what we say and take it into account! After all, Sir Alpha looks very different from the Demon and-"

"Except he doesn't!" Flamey replied. "Everyone at that park would have known who we are and recognised Alpha instantly! If he, Demon or whatever, was attacking them like he attacks us then it would be painfully obvious it wasn't someone else using an illusion as a disguise!" She groaned in frustration and rubbed her forehead, forcing herself to calm down.

"Flamey has a point," Alpha agreed. "There's no hiding that was me, and even if they believe us about how I got it, I still have no control over this _thing!_ " He sighed in defeat. "They'd lock me up anyway just to keep it from hurting anyone else."

Sat frowned in confusion. "What's all this about 'demons' and locking people up?"

"It's probably for the best we don't explain," GC said in reply, also addressing his friends as he continued, "In Kirb's note, he said it had come after him because he knew what it was. If what he said is correct, spreading news of its existence may only spread danger to all who hear it."

Alpha frowned. "I still think it was a dick move of him to just leave like that."

"I agree," Flamey added, "but I guess that was just Kirb not thinking things through, like he always does." She sat down besides Alpha. "After all, _we_ know about that thing, too! Not as much as him obviously, but we've seen it and what it can do! What's to stop it coming after us now?"

Sat rolled her eyes. "Well, if you're just gonna _ignore_ me, you could come up with a better excuse!"

The kitchen door swung open and Whyti dashed out, crying "Guys!" She paused a moment in her rush to locate them, then ran over to the booth. "Flamey! There's some police at our door asking for you! I think they're here for Alpha!"

"That was fast," Sat mumbled in surprise.

The rest of the group all exchanged nervous glances, silently asking _'How did they know to come here?'_ and not liking the answers they came up with. "What do we do?" Nye asked.

Alpha frowned to himself. "I'll go. It's me they want."

"Alpha, no!" Flamey cried. "I can't let you just get locked up like that!"

"As long as it keeps me from hurting anyone else, I don't exactly have another choice!" Alpha pointed out. "Now could you please stand up so I can get out?"

Flamey stared at Alpha for a long moment before sighing and reluctantly getting out of the booth, allowing Alpha to follow her. GC and Nye similarly got up. "We will always be here to lend you support, Sir Alpha!" Nye said.

Alpha smiled and nodded at his three friends. "Thank you."

 

* * *

 

At the back of the kitchen, next to the walk-in fridge, was a side door that lead to a small entryway. Sat had included it herself, connecting her home and workplace while also giving the restaurant a back door. Although Sat right now dearly wanted to stay and demand things be explained to her, Whyti dragged her up the stairs instead, standing a little way up while Alpha, his three friends close behind him, walked to the outside door, which stood only just ajar.

Alpha stood still for a moment, gathering his courage, then reached out and grabbed the doorhandle. He pulled it open in one swift motion to reveal a human man standing on the other side. The man jumped as he realised the door had moved, hurriedly pausing in the middle of cleaning his glasses to put them back on, the cleaning cloth stuffed into a breast pocket. "Good evening!" he cried, adjusting a purple uniform that didn't quite fit him. "Uh... Are you 'Alpha'?"

Glancing at a name badge on the policeman's shirt that read 'Asterob', Alpha nodded. "You were looking for me, right?"

"W-well..." Asterob didn't seem to be quite sure how to react to this, stammering to himself. "U-um..."

"Aha!" came a cry, and a green robot came rushing around the corner, pushing Asterob aside. "I'm sorry, we assumed when you took a while that you might try to make a runner, so I was at the front door! Haha, Asterob and I agreed I'd do the talking, so!" He reached out to shake Alpha's hand. "I'm ChaseAce, Asterob here and I are members of the Lavendera Police Force! We're investigating an allegation that an 'Alpha' - that would be you, right? - attacked several people in the park near here about a half-hour ago. Would you mind coming to the station with us to answer a few questions?"

Although Alpha appreciated the honesty of the cheerful robot, he had to admit he was nervous about leaving his friends. "I..."

"He can't!" Flamey cried. "He's innocent and doesn't deserve to be locked up!"

"Now now, young lady," Chase replied, hands raised, "we're not locking people up or anything just yet. We just want to talk to your friend, here."

" _Flamey!_ " Alpha warned.

The batwing ignored the warning and continued to loudly tell the policerobot how wrong he was. Nye and GC simultaneously turned to look at each other, and smiled. A moment later, Nye had jumped out and knocked Chase flat on his back, while GC had similarly jumped on Asterob, holding him down and blocking his view by placing his tub over the human's face. With a swipe of ice magic, Nye had shorted out Chase's circuits and shut him off, and he jumped back to his feet to gesture to his friends in the doorway. "We must run!" he called. Alpha and Flamey glanced at each other only once before obeying.

"Whoo!" cried Whyti as the four dashed around the corner, leaving Asterob lying exhausted on the concrete pavement. "Go, Flamey! Yay!"

Sat sighed. "I am so firing her when she gets back."


	14. Lost and Found

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The actual terrain of the Terrain of Magical Expertise varies about as much as its population. The occasional spot of desert still remains, littered now with cacti and brush, but the rest of the country is predominantly green, whether it be plains, grassy meadows or forests. The land remains mostly flat, but some hills have been built around the three major cities in landscaping efforts to hide them from a distance and keep the country looking natural. Forests cluster around settlements, now covering around half of TOME's land, while plains cover the borders with both sea and land. Meadows dot the rest of the country like freckles._

**Aw, Webby, very poetic! ;) -K**

**I know, it's awful. I meant it to be encyclopaedic but I'm awful at writing about geography. -W**

**I must admit, it certainly reads like you don't know how to write about it. -E**

**Yeah, fact-check your freaking work, Web master! LOL -R**

**C'mon boys, stop teasing him :) -K**

**you two stop flirting and we just might -B**

 

* * *

 

"Well, I'd say we're well and truly _lost._ What was your _brilliant_ plan after this?"

"Now now Lady Flame, we are to go after the Squire, are we not?"

"I-I'd love to see Kirb too, but we don't know where he is! Or how to find out..."

"That's true. However, Kirb said in his note that the creature we faced the other day goes after those who know of it. If we find the creature again, we may find Kirb with it."

"That still leaves us with the problem of _being freakin' lost!_ And I don't know about you three, but I'm a city-girl. I don't _do_ tracking in the forest."

"M-me neither. The tracking thing."

"Ah, but we do not need the knowledge of how to find the tracks of such an extraordinary demon! Am I correct, Sir Gamecrazed?"

"Yes. As I said, Kirb's note seems to indicate it will find us."

"Ugh! So we just wander _lost_ until either the police or Kirb happens to find us, assuming he was even telling the truth in the first place? We run into that grey cloud thing, I highly doubt we'll be able to fight it off this time."

" _I_ think Kirb was telling the truth..."

"I agree, Sir Alpha! The Squire would have no reason to lie to us!"

"He had no reason to _run away_ either..."

"Even so, this is our best option. If we return to the city, we would all be taken in by the police, in Alpha's case permanently, and may put the entire city in danger. Out here, we have the advantage of solitude."

"And on the bright side, we are even in our brawling gear! Or, at least, a close approximation! And we still carry Sir Gamecrazed's tub for him to sleep in!"

"That's good for him, but _we_ have to sleep in the dirt. Ugh. This is _not_ what I signed up for when I came to Tome..."

"I-I'm sorry, Flamey..."

"It's not your fault. I'm just grumbling because it staves off the boredom. And the hunger."

"I have an idea, Lady Flame! Let's play a rousing game of 'I Spy'! I volunteer to go first!"

"I changed my mind. I'm going to start killing people. Nylocke first."

"W-well, you don't have to be so rude about it, fair lady!"

 

* * *

 

The hours passed mostly in silence. Flamey had been forced to remove the jacket she'd decided to wear that morning, a yellow one with a fur collar, due to a combination of overheating from exertion and twigs and leaves getting caught in the fur. Nye, still carrying GC's tub under one arm, slowly began pulling off bits of armour to put in it, mumbling complaints to himself about "chafing" and "my poor scales". GC, the only one of the four who appeared to be unaffected by the long aimless wandering, lead them through the trees, occasionally pausing before deciding to change direction. Alpha simply lagged behind Flamey, trying and failing to think positive thoughts and drown out the growing feelings of hunger, exhaustion and irritation.

The forest around the group rang with the sound of wildlife: Breezes rustled leaves in the trees, birds sang in high branches, and frogs and cicadas could be heard in the distance, calling to each other. Occasionally, loud crashing sounds would echo from afar, or they would hear the sound of a rushing stream hidden in the undergrowth somewhere. In fact, it took several minutes before they began to collectively realise the crashing sounds they kept hearing were _getting closer_.

"Get down!" GC called, and the four ducked just in time to avoid the large, grey cloud falling out of an overhead tree, bouncing off a rock near Nye before landing in the dirt by Alpha.

"This way!" came a distant shout from somewhere in the trees.

Alpha's fear quickly morphed into anger, and this time he made no effort to calm himself down. He stood and willingly embraced the changes he knew were coming. _'This thing deserves all the hell we can give it!'_

"Alpha!" Flamey cried, but her call was ignored as Demon leapt on the cloud, exchanging blows with it as they rolled through the undergrowth.

Nye jumped to his feet, quickly throwing on the bits of armour he'd previously shed, and joined in the fight. "For victory!" he shouted as he magicked up his ice-sword. GC followed him as they leapt forward to take on the cloud themselves.

Flamey was still debating whether to join her friends when she again heard the distant shouts, much closer now, and turned just in time to see a massive orange cat-like creature leap into view, two ivory-skinned figures on its back. As the orange cat joined in the fight with the cloud, the figures expertly slipped off her back, the larger, blue-haired one jumping into the fray with his mechanical arm held forward. The smaller, brown-haired figure instead paused, looking over at Flamey with some surprise.

"Flamey!" Kirb cried, running to her side. "Are you alright?"

The batwing stood up with a glare, making only a small attempt at brushing the mud off her jacket. "No thanks to you!" she snapped, but regretted it a second later as Kirb recoiled as though he had been struck, pulling away from her with a guilty look.

Nye shouted something at the creature as he traded blows with it, and Flamey looked up to see that the group of five were slowly but surely scaring the thing away. With the sheer strength of the cat creature and Nye and the ferociousness of Demon, combined with the calculated attacks from GC and the blue-haired shifter, it didn't seem to like its chances, and finally managed to slip out of the rough circle it had been enclosed in, flying up into the trees. Demon tried to climb up after it, but the cat creature swatted him down and held him still below a massive paw. "Leave it for now!" it ordered, its voice echoing almost unrecognisably out of its massive jaws.

Flamey gasped, running to her friend's side. Nye and GC kept out of her path, but the blue-haired shifter did not move and was shoved aside as Flamey jumped over a fallen branch and knelt by Demon's head, where the cat creature was keeping him from moving his arms with her claws. "Alpha!" she called to him, and when he didn't respond, she sighed to herself and gripped his head, leaning in close. Demon tried to bite her, red eyes wide as she got ever closer, but at the instant her lips met his forehead, he relaxed, changing in a matter of moments back to her blue-eyed friend.

Sensing the struggles of her captive had stopped, the orange creature lifted her paw away from him. Three seconds later, she had shifted into a humanoid form. She glanced up at the treetops before walking forward to kneel next to Flamey. "You must be Flamey and Alpha," she said with a friendly smile.

Flamey nodded suspiciously. Alpha was too exhausted to respond, lying where he'd fallen.

"And who are you, might we ask?" Nye spoke up.

"Kizuna, Tigerlilly, Nina. You two must be Nylocke and Gamecrazed, then." She stood up, turning to her blue-haired companion and seemingly not noticing the confused glances Flamey and Nye shared. "Zetto, let's get a fire started here. No more travelling today."

Zetto nodded, then turned and walked off down the way they'd came, beckoning to Kirb as he went. Kirb only glanced guiltily at his friends before following.

"You are here to help us?" GC asked Kizuna.

Kizuna nodded. "I should apologise for Kirb. We'd agreed to leave you guys out of this, but that was before we knew what it had done to your friend here." She gestured to Alpha, who had now had his head shuffled into Flamey's lap, Flamey gently stroking his hair as he started to doze off. "I suppose you guys would know better than me," Kizuna continued, "that Kirb lacks the ability to logically think things through?"

Flamey scoffed, her eyes never leaving Alpha. "That's true."

Kizuna smiled and nodded to herself. "I thought so," she said, then gestured to the relatively-open space they stood in. "Feel free to sit down. Zetto will be back soon with our supplies, and we can camp here."

GC nodded and headed over to grab his tub. Nye scratched his chin in thought. "That may be easier said than done for us. None of us bar Sir Gamecrazed have anything to sleep in..."

Kizuna noted with surprise GC's tub. "I see," she said. "I anticipated _none_ of you having something to sleep in."

Flamey looked up, confused. "Huh?"

"Trust me," Kizuna replied with a smile. "I took care of sleeping arrangements for you. It's the least I can do if the four of you are going to join the organisation."


	15. Brothers...?

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The Debug Organisation is, or was, a terrorist group that plagued TOME for many years after its founding. It's true purpose was never confirmed. Members of the Organisation attacked the three cities seemingly at random, but their main focus was on Mechcity. No member of the group ever stayed in custody, suspected members being released on technicalities or simply disappearing from police cells. Investigations never turned up concrete explanations for how this would occur. Activity from the group seemed to stop very suddenly only two years ago, when their base was finally located to the south of Mechcity, destroyed and littered with the dead. However, the Organisation has been confirmed to still exist in a much smaller form, as attacks occasionally continue, at a smaller scale, to this day. The destroyed base is suspected to be the victim of an internal attack by a small handful of more radical Organisation members._

**Those poor people... :( -K**

**You're putting this crap in? Seriously? -E**

**I would love for a chance to rewrite it before that, Execk. Kindar, don't worry, we'll find our answers someday. -W**

 

* * *

 

"The... organisation?" Nye repeated.

Flamey narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Whatever this is, we can turn it down, right?"

"I don't think you'll want to," Kizuna explained, "nor do you exactly have other options at the moment." She held out her hands as if putting herself on display. "You are pretty much looking at the last line of defence against the virus and its attack on Tome. Well, me and Zetto. And Kirb." She crossed her arms. "I've no doubt the three of you have heard of the Debug Organisation."

Nye and Flamey gasped, and even GC's eyes seemed to widen in shock. "The Debug Organisation!?" Nye cried, before pointing his sword at Kizuna. "If this be some unsavoury attempt to persuade us to the side of evil, then-!"

"Nothing like that," Kizuna interrupted, hands held up in a peaceful gesture. "I know Kirb told you that the virus hones its attacks on those who know about it. What better way to protect the innocent from it than to claim its attacks are the work of a terrorist group?" She sighed. "I will admit though, it makes this fight... a lot more difficult than it could have been."

GC cocked his head to one side, looking up at Kizuna as he sat in the grass next to where he'd placed his sleeping tub. "What happened?"

Kizuna shook her head. "I'm afraid I wasn't there, and it's not my story to tell." She looked off into the trees, in the direction Zetto and Kirb had disappeared. "You'll have to ask _him_ when he gets back. Whichever one will talk about it."

GC closed his eyes and turned away.

Flamey rolled her eyes. "Alright then," she said, "why don't you explain what the Debug Organisation _is_ if it's not a terrorist group?"

After a long pause, Kizuna closed her eyes, her only outwards reaction to Flamey's demand. "You know the story of how Tome came to be; The five founders chased away the ancient curse on this land and made it habitable for life. However, they didn't entirely succeed." She opened her eyes, looking down on the sleeping Alpha. "The curse, or 'virus' as we call it, was no longer living in the soil, but free to roam. The founders, with their ability to weaken it, were safe from its wrath, so they deemed it wasn't a threat. One of their lesser team members disagreed, and founded the Organisation to protect the droves of innocent people coming here, researching his own way to destroy it for good." She looked up to Flamey. "Your friend is one of the few lucky enough to survive a direct attack, and I mean _very_ few. The mark it's left on him is indeed a bad one."

"It's done this to other people?" Nye asked, sitting down by a tree.

Kizuna nodded. "It's left different side-effects on every victim. One had his dreams forever haunted by nightmares, and suffered debilitating pain if he exhausted himself too much. The other..." She looked away. "Well."

Flamey frowned. "Are you saying Alpha's one of only _three_ survivors from this thing!?"

Kizuna looked up with a smile. "As I said, you're very lucky."

At that moment, out of the trees emerged Zetto and Kirb, together laden with three large, very full backpacks and several small pieces of wood. Zetto's unchanging blank expression unnerved Flamey, so she turned her attention to Kirb, who was lagging behind Zetto, staring at the dirt and looking generally sad.

Nye jumped to his feet, and Flamey noticed he'd been quietly removing some of his armour while she'd been distracted. "Squire!" he cried. "We are very relieved to have found you again!"

Kirb winced and looked away. Zetto looked up at the draconian for a few moments, but was quick to return to his work, placing the two backpacks he carried by Kizuna. "Do you want to start handing these out?" he asked her, and it struck Flamey how similar, if emotionless, his voice sounded to Kirb's.

The next few minutes passed in relative silence. Kizuna, Zetto and Kirb busied themselves setting up a camp, and it soon turned out that most of the bulk in their backpacks was caused by an over-abundance of sleeping bags, spare smaller backpacks, and a _lot_ of food. It even seemed the extra sleeping bags had been picked out specially for them, as Kizuna handed Nye a dark green one and Kirb shyly approached Flamey with a yellow-orange one, trailing his own red and blue one behind him that he placed next to Alpha. "We didn't have room for another one," he said, not meeting Flamey's eyes. "Alpha can have mine." Before she could reply, he'd dashed off again.

Kizuna sighed as she pulled a large bucket out of her bag. "Well, _this_ was a waste," she muttered to herself, then busied herself helping Zetto prepare some of their tinned food in a large pot. Kirb sat next to them, his eyes glued to the fire. Behind him, GC watched Kirb and Zetto intently. Flamey and Nye glanced at each other, but continued to sit in the spots they'd chosen, happy to wait for now. Alpha continued sleeping in Flamey's lap, unreactive to anything going on around him.

 

* * *

 

The first thing Alpha sensed as he came to was the smell of smoke and some kind of cooking meat. He then noticed he was lying on something soft; Definitely not the dirt or thick grass of the forest, nor was he in Flamey's lap as he seemed to remember being before dozing off. He moved his head a little, and as he felt the fabric brush against his cheek and caught a whiff of the scents attached to it, he suddenly realised it was Kirb's sleeping bag, which he was all-too-familiar with after using it as his bed for almost a week when he first arrived in Tome.

Alpha heard movement nearby, and became aware that there were a number of people around him. One of them, with footsteps unfamiliar to him, was walking around, and Alpha heard clinking of cutlery against crockery accompanying them. It was the more familiar sounds of eating he was able to recognise, alerting him to Flamey sitting somewhere behind him and Nye a little further in the other direction. He even heard Kirb cough, locating him a couple metres away in the direction of Alpha's feet, a direction from which he could feel the warmth of a fire.

Cracking open his eyes, Alpha was first struck by how bright it was, and wondered how he'd ever fallen asleep in this much light. Although it was clearly later in the day than he last remembered, it was probably still only one in the afternoon at the latest, with the high midday sun still streaming down through the layers of leaves above them. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to both the light and being open again... then noticed that he was staring at a pair of white boots.

"Oh, he's awake," a voice came from above, and Alpha's head jerked up in surprise to survey the red-orange woman looking down at him with yellow cat-like eyes. "Welcome back," she said with an amused smile, then walked away.

"Hey there!" Flamey cried from behind him, and Alpha sat up to more properly see his surroundings. A campsite had apparently been set up around him while he slept, and in addition to his friends (including the silent-as-usual GC) were the strange woman and the blue-haired man Alpha vaguely recalled from the fight with the cloud-thing earlier that day.

"What the hell happened while I was asleep!?" Alpha asked.

"A lot," Flamey laughed. "By the way, this is Zetto and Kizuna. They're Kiziti shifters!" She gestured to the pair, Zetto coldly returning Alpha's gaze while Kizuna gave him a small smile and wave, her attention otherwise focussed on a pot sitting on the edge of the fire. "We were waiting for you to wake up! They've already explained a lot, but, well..."

"Let's just say we still have a lot of questions," Nye filled in, waving from his seat by a tree away from the fire. "I hope you are feeling well, Sir Alpha!"

Alpha nodded. "I'm fine now," he said. "Guess transforming twice in one day really knocked me out."

"You should rest then," Kizuna replied, walking over to Alpha with a plate and fork that she held out for the wengal to take. "Eat up. You'll need your energy."

Alpha gingerly took the offered plate and found it contained a sausage and a small pile of beans. He was about to decline it before he suddenly realised he was indeed very hungry and changed his mind, spooning forkfuls of the food into his mouth. "So," he said between bites, "you two are Kizitis?"

Kizuna nodded as she sat down next to the fire, on a battered-looking red sleeping bag. "Born and bred," she answered. "I won't be surprised if you say you've never met one before. We get it a lot."

"Really?" Flamey asked. "Surely there are loads of Kiziti shifters around."

Zetto shook his head. "It's funny how the ability to continue to shift as an adult casts you as a suspicious figure to everyone else. And by 'funny', I mean 'not at all funny'. Most of us either never leave the Plains or decide to go back home not long after."

Alpha paused for a moment in thought. "The big orange cat thing," he thought aloud, looking up to Kizuna. "That was you, right?"

"Tigerlilly," Kizuna replied with a smile. "I have a third, too: Nina. You should remember me hanging around the park on Thursday."

Alpha, Flamey and Nye glanced at each other in confusion.

Kirb loudly sighed, suddenly reminding Alpha that he was even there. "The red cat!" he explained with some exasperation. "The one you accused me of being afraid of."

"Ohhh!" Alpha, Flamey and Nye all said in unison.

"Well, Zetto," Flamey spoke up, "if you're a Kiziti too, what are your other forms like?"

Kirb nervously laughed. "Yeah, let's not talk about that..."

"You are a Kiziti shifter too?" GC quietly asked from behind the pair.

Kirb looked around at the slime in surprise. "How'd you...!?" He frowned, then glared into the fire. "Yeah, let's just say I'm Zetto's brother for now."

Alpha scratched his head, confused. "So, what, is it some kind of disability that you two can't shift or something? Like my wings?"

"Yeah," Flamey added, "we've _never_ seen you shift, Kirb. And isn't 'Kirbopher' a strange name for a Kiziti?"

Zetto shook his head. "It's a long story," he replied.


	16. Or Not, Whatever, It's Cool

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The three major cities of TOME are Lavendera in the southeast, Sanctuary in the west, and Mechcity in the centre. The basic plans of each city were constructed by the Planning Network, or Plan Net, upon the clearing of the ancient curse from the land, but each has been slowly built upon and added to as more newcomers arrive every day. Each of the three cities are different, connected by TOME's train network. Sanctuary sits on a headland, and thanks to being bordered on three sides by sea, boasts a wide variety of beaches for all to enjoy. Although it is jam-packed with holidaymakers in summer, the rest of the year it is very quiet indeed, by far the calmest of the three. Lavendera is to the south, and often the entrypoint for newcomers to TOME. It has the largest percentage of residential areas for this reason, and is the centre of TOME's international relations. Mechcity is to the north, completing the triangle, and is the capital city of TOME, the true heart of everything that goes on in this young nation. It is often considered the most beautiful, featuring many gardens, parks and several artificial lakes and canals that connect its waterways to the ocean._

 

* * *

 

"Kizuna and I met over three years ago now," Zetto began, "in the mess hall at the Organisation's base."

"Wait," Alpha cut in, "the _what_ base?"

Flamey laughed. "Oh yeah, we never told you that bit!"

"I don't believe you ever heard of the Debug Organisation, Sir Alpha," Nylocke explained. "They were all over the news a few years ago; It was widely believed they were a terrorist group, but Lady Kizuna here tells us that it was all only a cover!" He grinned, holding a fist high in the air as he continued, "In actuality, they were fighting that demon cloud we faced in our apartment on Thursday!" Nye laughed, crossing his arms with a proud smile. "We have decided to join them on their quest, as you can imagine!"

"We call it 'the virus'," Zetto cut in. "Hence calling ourselves the 'Debug' Organisation. That was the joke."

Alpha thought for a moment, then smiled. "Oh, I get it!"

"There were maybe as many as a hundred of us back then," Kizuna picked up with a nostalgic smile. "We all lived in a secret base just south of Mechcity. On our days off, we could go into town, watch a movie or some kind of sporting event, go shopping..." She sighed. "Researching and fighting the virus was hard work, but nobody ever minded. Ignoring that we were essentially saving the world, just the fun we had off-work made it feel worthwhile."

"What happened?" Alpha asked.

"What else?" Zetto replied.

Kizuna rolled her eyes. "Speaking of days off," she said bitterly, "take a wild guess what I was doing that day."

"Oh dear," Nye whispered as the obvious answer occurred to him.

"Yup."

"As for me," Zetto continued, "I was on sentry duty. We knew the virus was in the area, so we were all being extra cautious." He glanced at Kirb, the most movement Alpha had seen him make since he woke up. Kirb's determined staring into the fire didn't seem to faze Zetto, though. "The virus appeared out of nowhere around eleven hundred hours. It decimated the base and almost killed me twice. It was only thanks to our founder's expertise I survived at all, and the virus fled after that. Our founder, unfortunately, succumbed to his wounds not long after."

"When did this happen?" Alpha asked, confused.

"About two and a half years ago," Kizuna replied.

Alpha nodded in reply. There was a long pause as he and his friends digested the story, then Alpha looked up at Kirb. "So, when do you come into this, Kirb?"

Kirb looked up in surprise, then laughed nervously, returning his gaze to the fire. "I've been in it from the beginning, actually."

Flamey frowned. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Is it not obvious?" GC spoke up, and everyone bar Kirb turned to look at him, his friends quizzically and Kizuna with some surprise.

"Sir Gamecrazed?" Nye asked.

"What's obvious?" Alpha added.

GC didn't answer immediately, instead choosing to get up, pick up his tub, and walk around the fire to join his friends on the other side. "I noticed since we met them, Kirb and Zetto have a tendency to gravitate towards each other, so they clearly share a very close relationship." He placed his tub by Nye's sleeping bag and sat down again in the grass. "Then Kizuna referred to them both using the singular 'him'."

Kizuna smiled, impressed. "Wow, you're good."

"I'm still confused," Flamey said with a shake of her head.

"The second victim of the virus," GC continued, looking over at Zetto and Kirb. "It was you, was it not?"

Flamey and Alpha looked over at the two in shock, noticing Kirb wince in reply to GC's question. Nye, however, was more confused than surprised, raising a single finger as he asked, "Er, which one?"

"To give as simple an answer as possible," Zetto replied, "both of us." He gestured to Kirb, who was still staring into the fire and ignoring the ongoing conversation. "Before the virus attacked, Kirbopher and I were the same person. It split us into two and took our ability to shift."

"Kiziti shifters," GC added to his friends, "can heal injuries when they shift just as other shifters can when they are young, although it takes a lot of energy to do so. For Zetto to have a mechanical arm, he must not have been able to shift to repair the injury since it occurred."

Zetto held up said robotic arm. "I lost this only just under two years ago," he said. "Another thing the virus took from me. Although with any luck we can finally use it to our advantage soon."

Alpha was still stunned, mulling over the information Zetto had just given them. He wanted to speak up and confirm he hadn't just imagined the last few minutes of conversation, but the right words simply refused to come to him.

Flamey did not have the same problem. "Wait a second," she said, a cynical frown on her face, "if you two are, or _were_ , the same person, how come you're so different?"

Kizuna laughed. "I had a problem with that when it first happened. It's the strange way the virus split him up."

"I have the logic," Zetto explained, "and the ability to recognise patterns and trends. Kirb, on the other hand, got the emotions and the ability to handle and interact with other people."

Kirb winced, hugging his knees. "It all probably makes sense to you guys now, huh?" he quietly added.

"I'm aware I come across as a primitive robot," Zetto continued in his usual emotionless monotone. "Since you now know why, I'll ask you to keep in mind that I can't pick up on anything other than what you say to me outright, just as you've probably noticed Kirb is unable to think things through or answer complicated questions."

"I can answer _some_..." Kirb quietly objected. "Not my fault every job I could find fired me when they found out I couldn't do math..."

"He acts more like a singular person when both of him are touching," Kizuna added with a small smile. "Something about the skin contact. They share memories and stuff, too."

Alpha and Flamey looked at each other, silently agreeing that the explanation, although outlandish, was most likely true and seemed to make sense.

Nye tapped his chin in thought. "I presume then," he said, "that you, Squire, left the Organisation around the time Master Zetto here lost his arm, considering when we first met in Lavendera."

Zetto shook his head. "Kirb actually left us only the day after the split. He was unable to handle the emotional trauma of the attack."

Kirb's head jerked up with an angry growl. "What the hell, Zetto!? Just 'cause you have no understanding of embarrassment-!"

"Calm down, shortstack," Kizuna interrupted with a small smile. " _I_ need the two of you together, but not as much as _you_ do. It's the closest we can get right now to having the old you back."

Although Zetto seemed to have no reaction to Kizuna's statement, Kirb instantly quietened, glaring into the fire. "Yeah, I know," he mumbled.

"So what now?" GC asked.

"The usual, for us," Kizuna replied. "I've always been pretty good at tracking the virus. We follow its trail until it decides to confront us, keep it away from the cities and any innocent people, and, if we can at all manage it, do our best to destroy it." She shrugged. "No biggie."

"I assume that's sarcasm," Zetto spoke up.

Kirb rolled his eyes. "Duh."

"When do we start?" Flamey asked.

"Today, we rest," Kizuna explained. "Tomorrow, the hunt is on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big cheer to commenter Starling, who figured out more of Zetto/Kirb's story than I thought was possible with the information available! Inspiration credit for exactly how the split differentiates them goes to ZeroIncorporated's fanvid "Left Brain, Right Brain", which casts Zetto as the logical Left Brain and Kirb as the emotional Right Brain (look it up on YouTube!). Obviously I took some liberties from the characters in the song, but they really didn't differ much except in their opinions (Logic-Brain getting angry? Emotion-Brain using logic to win an argument? It's less interesting to write if they can do that!).


	17. Journey: Alpha

DBUG ORG DAILY LOG

MEMBER NAME: _Alpha_

_Only my second day as a member of this organisation! I told Kizuna I'd prefer to wait a while before writing the daily report, but Kirb said it would be easy, just writing what happened today like in a diary. Apparently it's a tradition from when they had a boss to answer to? I don't quite understand it, but here goes._

_We got up far earlier than we're used to in the city. Kizuna showed us how the virus leaves these weird black marks all over the plants and ground and stuff as it passes, so we can track it. She shifted into Nina and led the way with Kirb, and we basically walked until lunchtime. While we were stopped for lunch, the virus attacked us. Because of the 'mark' it left on me, I don't remember the battle very clearly. Apparently just the sight of it is enough to get me angry. We also seem to have officially nicknamed the thing I transform into: 'Demon'. Nye came up with it a few days ago, but I don't feel comfortable putting it in with my name the way Kizuna lists all her names._

_The virus escaped before we could destroy it, and I was too exhausted to continue, so we had to rest for an hour or so before moving on again. Zetto suggested I learn how to control the anger when it pops up, but that just got everyone arguing about who was 'best qualified' or whatever. Kirb stormed off and Zetto followed him. I think Flamey is still a little angry at him for trying to leave us like he did. Kizuna says they were only going to before they realised what the virus had done to me, and by then Kirb had left his note. Apparently she was at the park when I, when Demon I mean, attacked it yesterday._

**I detailed our plans in previous entries. Don't worry though, you'll get the hang of these after a while. Ignore Kirb's advice, this isn't a personal diary. -KTN**

**I just wish I knew beforehand that these things were open to notes once we were done... - Alpha**

**I must say, I am appreciative of your explanation of Kiziti Culture today, Lady Kizuna! -NYLOCKE**

**Thank you, Nylocke. -KTN**

 

* * *

 

The virus was again fleeing into the canopy. Zetto ran underneath, firing his mechanical arm's energy shots into the branches, while Demon jumped onto the nearest tree trunk and attempted to follow it more directly. Tigerlilly tried to swat him back down to the ground, but he leapt across to another trunk and avoided her paws. Zetto, having lost sight of the virus, felled Demon with a single shot, sending the dark wengal crashing into the ground with a roar, where Tigerlilly immediately pinned him with her claws.

Flamey dashed to Demon's side, sending a thankful wave up at the orange cat-like creature. "Thanks, Kizuna!" she called.

Kirb, sheathing his katana, growled. "Flamey!" he cried. "It's _Tigerlilly!_ " He scoffed, throwing his hands in the air. " _Rude!_ " Tigerlilly nodded her head in agreement.

Nye and GC shared a glance. "Are they not both her name?" Nye asked with some hesitation.

"It-! That-!" Kirb cried, before groaning in frustration and turning to Zetto, waving his arms. " _You_ explain! You got all the explainy-bits!" With that, he plopped himself down in the grass, arms crossed and eyes glaring off into the distance.

Zetto simply ignored Kirb, busy checking over the insides of his mechanical arm at the edge of the group. "I'm busy."

Alpha groaned as he came to, and Tigerlilly released him from her paw, shifting into Kizuna. She brushed off her blue dress, sternly not meeting anyone's eyes. "We can take a break here for Alpha to recover."

Nye and GC sat in the grass by Alpha, who was coughing as Flamey helped him sit up. "You're okay," Flamey assured him, and Alpha smiled a silent thanks in return. Kirb looked up from his sulk to watch his friends, but didn't move to join them.

Kizuna sighed. "I guess while we're here, a brief explanation of Kiziti culture wouldn't be a bad idea." She moved over and sat next to the small semicircle of friends, who regarded her with a mix of confusion and suspicion. She smiled to reassure them. "Don't worry, it's not that complicated."

Zetto snapped the cover of his mechanical arm closed, having finished his diagnostic. "If we're staying here, I'll go and fetch our supplies." He gestured to Kirb as he began to head off back the way they'd come. Kirb stared sadly as his feet as he stood to join him.

"Actually, Zetto," Kizuna called, "if you want to do that, you'll have to do it alone. I'd like Kirb to stay here."

Kirb looked over in surprise. Zetto stopped and looked back blankly.

"Yeah, c'mon, Kirb!" Alpha cried, waving to his friend and oblivious to Flamey awkwardly looking away. "Come and sit with us!"

"Why?" Zetto asked Kizuna. "We need at least four hands to carry our supplies here, and neither of me is-"

Kizuna shook her head in amused frustration. "Zetto, it's not something you'd understand, unfortunately. We'd just like Kirb to stay here, please."

"You can sit here, Squire!" Nye called, gesturing to the small space next to him. "Right between myself and Sir Alpha!"

"We would appreciate your company," GC added quietly.

Kirb glanced back and forth between Zetto and the group for a few moments, then allowed himself a shy smile and bounded over to his friends. Nye and Alpha were quick to grab his arms and pull him down between them, even Flamey giggling as Nye used the opportunity to pull the trio into a hug. It was left unsaid that this had been the first time in days Kirb had joined the group, but the relief of the five of them being back together was worth more to them than words.

Zetto watched the gathering for a few moments, then seemed to make a decision and also sat down, a fair distance from the group, his eyes glued to the trees around them in self-appointed lookout duty.

"Now," Kizuna began, clapping her hands to attract the five friends' attentions, "Kiziti names! You probably know already that we have more than one, right?" The four she was addressing all variously nodded. "What about how each name is tied specifically to one of our forms each?" This time, only GC nodded; Nye and Alpha looked vaguely confused, while Flamey gasped as something occurred to her.

"Oh!" the batwing cried. "So you're only 'Kizuna' when you look like, well, _this_?" She gestured to Kizuna's current form. "And it's rude to call you Kizuna if you're in another form?"

Kizuna nodded. " _Very_ rude," she corrected. "It's why we always introduce ourselves with all of our names upfront." She paused a moment, then added, "Although, in certain situations, calling someone only by their traditional name is more the norm. Like with kids who haven't settled yet, or when the person you're taking about isn't in sight or something."

"I suppose that makes sense," Nye said, tapping his chin in thought.

Alpha nodded, shooting Kirb a grin. "Y'know, when someone says something 'isn't complicated' I never believe 'em, but after the fuss you two made about it I was expecting something ultra complicated!"

Kirb scoffed. "Yeah, well, it depends on how much you go into detail. And who you're explaining it to. And how often."

"I'll remember that in future," Flamey promised Kizuna. "Tigerlilly's the big orange one, Nina's the small red one, right?"

Kizuna nodded an affirmation.

Zetto asked himself for the thousandth time why his other self insisted on staying for such a pointless discussion.

 

* * *

 

**FOUR YEARS AGO**

**JULE'S DRINKS AND MORE, MECHCITY**

The small group of young men laughed heartily as they huddled around the bar, most of them clutching half-empty mugs of various kinds of beer.

"I would take that bet!" a tall batwing boasted. "There's no way Team Macho Libre is losing a brawl to a pair of gear-driven  _losers_!"

The ivory-skinned shifter opposite him flashed a shark-toothed grin. On his head was a shock of smooth, cobalt blue hair, mostly pointing upwards except for the long bangs hanging either side of his smug face. "Well, in that case, prepare to lose all your money," he dramatically announced, poking the batwing in the chest, " _'cause you're going down!_ "

A blond human guffawed as he slapped the shifter on the back. "You're a hoot, Zetto mah man!" he cried. "I'm glad we ran into ya today. You sure you don't wan' a drink?"

Zetto shook his head. "Nah. I already said, I'm gonna be a big-time brawler someday, so I need to keep myself as healthy as possible."

The human scoffed. "Like _one drink_ would hurt..."

"Hey, uh, Zetti," a brown-feathered wengal spoke up.

"Zetto, i-it's Zetto," the shifter mumbled.

"Why would you wanna be a brawler anyway?" the wengal continued, ignoring him. "'S boring. Like, so bad."

"I take offence to that," Zetto cried with a glare he fought to keep light-hearted. "It's like a real-life adventure! Not to mention, fame and fortune!" He laughed to himself.

"What's this about adventure?" an unfamiliar voice behind them said, and the small group went quiet, turning around to see a middle-aged human with colourfully-dyed hair, sat at a nearby table. Although he looked over at them with a friendly smile over a pair of sunglasses, Zetto could see prominent bags under his eyes. He wore a black trenchcoat, collar turned up to partly cover his neck and lower face, and clutched a single shotglass in one gloved hand.

The tall batwing sniffed. "Who's askin', old man?"

"Hey, cool it, dude," the blond human said, hitting his friend.

"If you boys are looking for a real life adventure," the man continued, "I can show you something that will endanger you the rest of your life, just by simply knowing about it. You can join our fight to protect the world... if you're interested."

The group of boys laughed, but Zetto was intrigued, staring at the strange man with narrowed eyes. "How do we know you're not just talking crap?" he asked.

The man shrugged. "You don't," he admitted, standing up from his chair. Zetto quickly noticed what looked like a sword moving under the coat. "I'm sure a brawling hotshot like you would be able to protect yourself if I'm lying, though."

Zetto's eyes followed the man out of the bar. Three seconds later, the young shifter ditched his half-drunk new 'friends' and left.


	18. Journey: Flamey

DBUG ORG DAILY LOG

MEMBER NAME: _Flamey_

_I can't believe it's been a week already. The four (five?) of us are settling in to the schedule, in that it's easier to get up in the morning and fall asleep at night. I just noticed this morning that Kirb and Zetto share a sleeping bag. I guess it makes sense, them being the same person. Kirb also says they have a mild psychic connection even when they're not touching skin-to-skin. I told him he was talking crap and we got into another argument, which upset Alpha and triggered Demon again._

_We didn't see the virus today, and that's probably a good thing. I don't know if Alpha could have handled it. Kizuna made me promise to stop picking fights with Kirb. I'm trying, but it's hard to trust Kirb after all the crap he put us through, and without even apologising for it! I'm sure if I asked Zetto for an apology, he'd give me one, but it wouldn't be the same. For one, I'm not sure Zetto would understand why. Also he still unnerves me a bit, but I'm trying not to be bothered by it so much. I don't think he even notices, though._

**Believe me, he doesn't. It takes a while to get used to how Zetto 'works'. And by that, I do mean both of him. -KTN**

**I'm glad it's not just me then - Flamey**

 

* * *

 

They trudged single file through the undergrowth of the forest, only just avoiding tripping over concealed tree-roots or potholes as they concentrated on sticking together. Alpha, despite his insistence he could walk fine on his own, was being semi-supported by Nye, who fell prey to many tripping hazards while he was helping his weakened friend avoid them. GC, who had no such problem, aided Nina in tracking the marks of the virus on the trees above them, allowing her to concentrate on navigating this treacherous section of the forest floor. Zetto was also at the head of the group, and although he still frequently fell victim to potholes, his complete lack of reaction to it had long since stopped making the others laugh. Zetto himself had completely failed to even notice this, though.

Flamey lagged behind at the back of the group. Directly in front of her was Kirb, faring better than the others at avoiding the half-hidden obstacles. She found herself glaring at the back of his head inbetween looking out for safe places to put her feet. She had to admit, she was still smarting after the harsh words they'd exchanged earlier, and was only keeping quiet now in case another argument set off Demon again. The past week, her anger had been steadily growing, the frustration of Kirb having not told them the truth combined with the delayed betrayal at his sudden leaving and how the rest of their group had accepted him into their group again so easily without Kirb ever actually vocalising an apology. She'd been doing her best to put it aside when Alpha needed her, but it was getting harder not to seethe when she saw Kirb chatting with the others like nothing had ever happened.

"Wait," GC announced, attracting everyone's attention as he pointed ahead. "I can see a clearing ahead where we can rest."

Everyone looked down to Nina, who nodded. "Sure," she panted. "A break would be a great idea."

The group of seven ventured out into the small area clear of ferns or treeroots and practically fell into sitting positions around it. Nina, taking advantage of her small size, lay flat on her side, her tail twitching subtly as she breathed. Zetto sat next to her, eyes closed and mouth hanging open, his sharp teeth on display. Nye and GC helped Alpha sit, then Nye flopped down beside him, the two backpacks hanging off his other shoulder falling off and being ignored by their tired carrier. GC stayed standing, taking on the role of lookout while his friends rested.

Just as Flamey was about to step up out of the treacherous undergrowth, her foot caught on a treeroot, and she suddenly catapulted forward, landing face-first on Kirb's shoulder with a shout. Her nose and chin erupted in pain, and she scrambled back to her feet as she realised her weight had thrown both herself and Kirb to the ground. "Watch where you're going!" she cried with a glare as she dusted herself off.

"Watch where _I'm_ going!?" Kirb repeated in disbelief, also pulling himself to his feet. " _You_ ran into _me!_ Watch where _you're_ going!"

Nye winced, hiding his eyes behind a hand. "Oh dear," he whispered.

Alpha gingerly reached out a hand towards his bickering friends. "G-guys...?"

"If you weren't so close to me," Flamey snapped, "you wouldn't have been in the way!"

" _I_ was concentrating on the people in front of me," Kirb retaliated, "like _you_ should have been!"

Nina jumped to her feet and shifted instantly into Kizuna, striding between the two and firmly holding them apart with a stern glare. "That's enough!" she ordered, looking between the two. "I will _not_ have bickering in my team!"

"She started it!" Kirb objected.

Kizuna rolled her eyes. "I don't _care_ who started it," she replied, "it's stopping right here!"

Kirb and Flamey backed off, diverting their angry looks elsewhere.

Narrowing her eyes, Kizuna looked over Flamey's face with a critical stare. "Flamey, step aside somewhere private and I can heal that for you."

Flamey reached up to her face in surprise and realised her nose was bleeding. _'I must have bumped it pretty hard,'_ she thought, but dismissed the idea it might be broken. _'It doesn't hurt_ that _bad.'_

Zetto finally reacted to the goings-on, opening his eyes to say, "Why pull her aside to heal such a minor wound? That's not a spell that would require privacy in any way."

"Shut up, Zetto!" Kizuna snapped, and, although Zetto did not react at all, Kirb recoiled and dashed to Zetto's side, curling up in a ball in the dirt.

Without another word, Kizuna placed a hand on Flamey's shoulder and steered her out of the clearing, through the potholes until they came to a pair of large tree-roots sticking out of the ferns, a fair distance from their friends. Flamey could hear the distant murmur of Alpha and Nylocke chatting, loud enough only for her to catch an occasional word or two by Nye. It was amazing how easily the forest could disperse noise sometimes.

Kizuna sat down on one of the tree-roots, guiding Flamey to the other one, then carefully waved her hand over Flamey's face, casting a general healing spell. "I guess it's obvious I didn't just take you out here to heal your nose," she said, the anger of earlier seemingly drained out of her.

Flamey resisted the urge to nod, keeping her head still so the magic would take effect. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, and meant it. "I'm trying not to argue with Kirb, but," she sighed, "it's just-!"

"You don't need to explain," Kizuna interrupted, lowering her hands as her spell finished. "Whatever your problem is with Kirb, you need to discuss it with him and put it behind both of you. We can't fight the virus as a team if two of us are pre-occupied fighting each other."

"We co-operate when it matters!" Flamey pointed out. "When the virus is attacking!"

Kizuna shook her head. "That's not the only time it matters." She leaned back in her seat, gold eyes staring into green. "I don't want you to stop just for Alpha's sake; Do it for yourselves first and foremost. For good or worse, we're all stuck together until, by some miracle," she rolled her eyes, "we somehow manage to destroy that thing for good. Talk it over with Kirb. Take Zetto with you too, if you want. He might listen better if both of him are there."

Flamey stared into her lap. "I've tried," she grumbled. "Not with Zetto, but... Kirb just ignored me."

"Now now," Kizuna said, her stern look softening just a touch. "You should know Kirb's as dumb as a brick."

At that, Flamey couldn't resist a snort of laughter.

"He was stupid about these things even _before_ he got into his current situation," Kizuna added with a smile. "Pull him aside and tell him your problem outright. I promise it'll help."

Flamey nodded. "I'll try," she promised.

"Good." With that, Kizuna stood up and made her way back to the clearing. Flamey waited a minute or two before following.

 

* * *

 

**FOUR YEARS AGO**

**TRAINING ROOM, ORGANISATION BASE**

"Faster, hotshot! You'll never hit anyone with that kind of speed!"

_CLASH_

"You're still telegraphing all your attacks! It doesn't matter how much power is behind it if you can never hit the enemy!"

_SLASH_

"Concentrate! You're slowing down and missing openings I'm giving you!"

Zetto shouted in frustration and resisted the urge to throw his rapier down on the mat they stood on. "This is impossible!" he cried. "I'm just not a swordsman! You're wasting your time with me!"

The green-haired human known as Flashblade relaxed his posture and calmly waited for his student's tantrum to calm down. "Learning to fight with a sword is never impossible," he pointed out, "only difficult." He sheathed his everpresent katana and left the mat to the bench, where he sat down with a relieved sigh, eyes closed as he leaned his head against the cool concrete wall. "And I am never wasting my time teaching it."

Zetto winced. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, then followed his ever-exhausted teacher to the bench, where he found the training rapier's sheath and prepared it to go back in the equipment closet. "I just... don't think this is right for me. All my life, all the amateur brawls I've done, I've fought with my fists and my magic. It's always been enough before." He slumped down on the bench. "I don't regret you introducing me to the Organisation, but I _do_ think you're wasting your time training me. I'll never be good enough at this to fight the virus without getting myself killed."

Flashblade opened one eye, peering over at the morose shifter. "Your primary problem is that you're slow," he repeated. "You're a Kiziti. Maybe you're simply using the wrong form."

Zetto perked up. "Huh?"

"Tell me," Flashblade continued, turning to face his student, "what are the individual advantages of your two forms?"

The shifter paused uncomfortably. "Zetto's stronger," he slowly began, hands clasped under his chin. "Kirb has better eyesight, though. And Zetto better smell and taste..." He sighed. "Kirb's faster," he admitted, then turned to Flash with an apologetic frown, waving his hands as he explained, "But I can't shift here! I've only made, like, two friends so far, and the moment people here discover I'm-!"

"Stop right there," Flash interrupted, holding up a hand. "I'd say two friends in a week is better than the usual person fares. With your charm, I'm sure you can bring people around in no time. Besides," he smiled, "I found out you were a Kiziti when you signed up, and you haven't scared _me_ away."

Zetto couldn't help snorting. "Yeah, but you're the big boss," he pointed out. "You're kind of an exception."

Flash smiled. "Shift into your other form, hotshot," he said. "We'll try again in five."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flashblade, although highly unlikely to ever appear in TOME, is not my original character; Much like my characterisations of Bitshrum and Rubi up to this point (and Execk too, pre-Chapter 7), he comes from TOME's predecessor TTA, where he was Kirb's mentor before the main five became friends.


	19. Journey: Nylocke

DBUG ORG DAILY LOG  
MEMBER NAME: _NYLOCKE (MASTER OF WRITING ORGANISATION REPORTS!)_  
 _Today our fair party travelled through the wide plains of Tome's south-west! It was a most beautiful sight, and reminded one of his distant homeland to the east! However, it was also a sad sight, as the despicable virus has left great swathes of grass blackened and dying. Sir Gamecrazed has become quite adept at following the trail it leaves, and was at the front of our party for much of the day._  
 _Lady Flame has, unfortunately, still not kept her promise regarding her frequent spats with Squire Kirbopher. Even worse, their fight today was conducted mid-battle with the foul virus, and it was only because of Master Zetto's intervention the two of them calmed down. They seem to have reached an agreement finally, and I can only hope this is a good sign for the future._  
 _SO SAYETH I, NYLOCKE, MASTER OF THE COLD STEEL!_  
 **NYLOCKE, I HAVE TOLD YOU A HUNDRED TIMES, STOP SIGNING YOUR NAME THAT WAY -KTN**  
 **Forgive me, fair lady Kizuna! I shall refrain from doing so again! -NYLOCKE**  
 **Since that's what you said last time, you'd better -KTN**

 

* * *

 

Energy shots, fireballs and icicles flew through the air. Around their target, swords and claws danced nimbly, avoiding each other expertly as they faced their shared opponent. In the centre of the maelstrom, a grey cloud with yellow stripes fought them off, shrugging away most attacks as it struggled to keep a focus on any one of them long enough to do significant damage. Finally reaching frustration point, the ball of feral anger and hate formed spikes all over and struck out in all directions at once, tossing the attackers unlucky enough to be close-by several metres away.

Demon fell in the tall grass with a defiant shout, and Nina ended up not far away, having shifted from Tigerlilly in mid-air to help soften the blow of landing. Nye was tossed into GC, sending them both to the ground only momentarily before they helped each other to their feet and resumed their attack. Nina followed, shifting into Kizuna to make rare use of her gun as she was wary of getting so close to the virus again so quickly regardless of Tigerlilly's greater strength. Demon had no such qualms, leaping out of the grass and latching onto the virus as he swiped at it ineffectually with his clawed fingers, black wings held wide open on his back. Zetto, the only one to not be taken out by the virus's attack, circled it as he continued firing energy shots, keeping it contained until his friends could rejoin him. The last two of the group were not as quick to resume their attack, as Kirb was flung straight into Flamey, throwing the two of them onto a patch of previously-flattened grass. Kirb, having lost his grip on his katana, sat up to quickly grab it before jumping back into the fray, only to be stopped as Flamey moved underneath him, forcing him to roll off to one side.

"Careful!" Kirb cried as he fell on his front, shooting Flamey a quick glare as he got to his feet.

" _You_ be careful!" Flamey shot back, jumping up with a flap of her leathery wings. "You're the one who flattened me!"

Kirb rolled his eyes and dashed back towards the virus. "Don't start," he growled, leaping at the virus and slashing at it with his katana.

"Start _what?_ " Flamey replied, shooting off a volley of fireballs at the virus. "You're the one who's been friggin' avoiding this conversation at every turn!"

"I'm not avoiding anything!" Kirb objected, rolling to one side to avoid one of the virus's attacks.

"Do you two have to do this _now?_ " Kizuna shouted in disbelief, but the pair only ignored her.

"Bullcrap you're not!" Flamey cried, unleashing a wave of flames on the virus. "I've all but outright demanded you apologise and you've just changed the topic or blatantly ignored me!"

Kirb groaned as he slashed and stabbed at the virus before jumping back to circle it. "Apologise for _what?_ " he demanded. "I haven't done anything!"

"Squire? Lady?" Nye called, but was forced to abandon his cry for calm to focus on the battle.

"You call _abandoning us_ not doing anything!?" Flamey shouted at Kirb, also circling to both follow the shifter and get a better shot at the virus. "With just a note saying you couldn't tell us what was going on!?"

"But I did apologise for that!" Kirb cried, slashing twice at the virus.

Flamey threw twin fireballs at their opponent. "No, you didn't!" she replied. " _Kizuna_ apologised, and _you_ avoided us for a day!"

Kirb didn't respond, too focussed on fighting the virus and avoiding its counterattacks to formulate a reply.

"Apologise to her!" Zetto suddenly shouted from the other side of the battlefield.

Rolling his eyes, Kirb groaned, "Why the hell should I!?"

"Firstly," Zetto replied, "she makes a good argument. Secondly, she's asking for one." He dashed over closer to where Kirb and Flamey were throwing their attacks. "Most importantly, you hurt her and she deserves it."

Flamey looked over at the tall shifter in shock, pausing her fireballs.

"FINE!" Kirb shouted, leaping back from the virus to face Flamey. "I'm _sorry_ , okay!? I don't have the capability to think things through and went ahead with a plan we made before we knew what the virus had done to Alpha and I'm _sorry about it_!"

"Fine then!" Flamey shouted back. "That's all I wanted!"

"Good!" Kirb replied, turning back to the virus to begin fighting it again. "I'm glad!"

Before Kirb could land another attack, the virus jumped into the air and pounded itself into the dirt, disappearing under the earth and leaving only a black crater to indicate where it had been. Demon, having fallen off as it jumped, stood bemused at the edge, before Tigerlilly leapt on him from behind, keeping him pinned to the ground. Nye sighed in relief, sitting down where he stood. GC joined him, standing nearby and watching Kirb, Flamey and Zetto.

Tigerlilly looked up from Demon's flailing under her paw. "I know I wanted the two of you to talk it out," she rumbled, "but that wasn't exactly the way I had in mind."

Flamey winced. "Sorry about that," she said, all her anger at Kirb deflating. "I didn't intend-"

"Don't apologise, it's my fault," Kirb interrupted, looking guilty as he stared at his shoes. "I should have made more of an effort to talk to you guys upfront instead of leaving it to Kizuna." He looked up at Flamey. "I really am sorry, Flamey. I just..." He looked away, sheathing his katana simply for something to do with his hands. "I couldn't..."

Flamey jumped at Kirb and pulled him into a hug, lifting him off the ground and causing him to flail for a moment in surprise. "Don't worry about it," she assured him with a happy smile, before lowering him back on his feet and releasing him from the hug. "I know you're sorry. I just wanted to hear the words."

Kirb adjusted his patched hat and smiled back.

"OH, THIS IS MOST WONDROUS!" Nye cried, jumping back to his feet and dragging GC over to the pair to pull them into a group hug. "I am most glad the two of you could resolve your conflict!"

Zetto blinked at the odd sight, then flipped open his mechanical arm to run his diagnostics.

"Any time you want to come over here and calm down Demon, Flamey," Tigerlilly called, "I'll just be waiting here. For you."

Flamey laughed as she pulled herself out of Nye's grip. "Coming!"

 

* * *

 

**THREE AND A HALF YEARS AGO**

**MESS HALL, ORGANISATION BASE**

Kirbopher was exhausted. So exhausted he couldn't even be bothered shifting into Zetto as he trudged to an out-of-the-way table in the mess hall for some much-needed food before going straight to bed. He felt his twin ID cards clinking together conspicuously on his belt, casting their usual circle of Organisation members keeping well out of his way, and without the buffer of Zetto's face to draw people in. If there was one advantage to eating as Kirb today, it was that his friends didn't recognise that Kirbopher was Zetto, and the shifter could at least eat his food in peace. He fell into a chair and plopped his tray on the table in front of him, quietly shovelling food into his mouth with his eyes closed so he didn't have to see the awkward stares he tended to attract in this situation.

His sword-training session with Flash had been gruelling today. Things had been going much better since he'd switched to using Kirb a month ago and subsequently starting switching up the swords he used, but Flash seemed to take the progress as a signal to push him all the harder. Kirb didn't know why, since nowadays the sessions seemed just as likely to end in one of Flash's pain attacks than anything else. He idly wondered if Flash started the Organisation purely to fight the virus, or in the hopes that destroying it for good would remove its effects from him. He supposed it didn't really matter in the end.

Kirb's train of thought was called to a halt as someone sat in the chair opposite him, accompanied by the clunk of a tray on the table. He very deliberately refused to look up and acknowledge the other person, prepared to write off their presence as a dare and hoping ignoring them would make them go away.

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Hi there!" the other person cheerily said. "I've been looking for you! The lady who signed me up said there was another one of us somewhere around here."

Kirb continued to ignore her, focussing on keeping his eyes closed and his mouth chewing.

His silence seemed to put off the stranger sat opposite, as she sounded less cheery when she again spoke. "I just figured, given how people tend to avoid us, we should really stick together. Safety in numbers, and all that."

Kirb continued chewing.

"I'm in accounting," the young woman ventured, starting to sound nervous. "My names are Kizuna, Tigerlilly and Nina."

Kirb stopped chewing.

"I think I've seen you around, but you always had other people with you and I didn't want to interrupt, so-"

"Kirbopher, Zetto," Kirb mumbled through his food.

There was a pause. "Huh?"

Kirb swallowed, opening his eyes and looking up to see the red-skinned young woman opposite. He vaguely recognised her as a passer-by he'd seen around the base recently. "My names are Kirbopher and Zetto," he repeated. "I didn't know there was another Kiziti joining us."

Kizuna smiled. "So you think I'm worth acknowledging now?"

Kirb frowned. "You want me to go back to ignoring you?"

"No," Kizuna replied, shaking her head with the same amused smile. "You seem so cheerful with your friends, I was just wondering why I got the silent treatment today."

At this, Kirb had to chuckle. "Bad day," he explained. "People avoid Kirb, because they see me as a different person for some reason." He rolled his eyes, and Kizuna nodded knowingly. "If it weren't for the fact that I love this job, I'd've gone home _long_ ago."

"Well, maybe it'll be easier with the two of us," Kizuna suggested. "What do you say?"

Kirb shrugged. "Sure, whatever," he said dismissively, his proud smile betraying his true feelings despite his tone.


	20. Journey: Gamecrazed

DBUG ORG DAILY LOG

MEMBER NAME: _Gamecrazed_

_We tracked the virus to a meadow, where it was waiting for us. Alpha was able to keep himself from transforming, and we encircled the virus with the intent of finally destroying it with Zetto's Breaker Beam in his mechanical arm. Unfortunately, it was not strong enough, and the force of the blast only threw him back and sprained his ankle. The virus got away. We do not believe it to be significantly injured. Zetto's injury has been bandaged and we anticipate a full recovery in a matter of days. We will move on once Zetto is again capable of walking without pain._

**I must admit, the failure of the Breaker Beam still troubles me. Regardless of what we discussed today, Master Zetto's arm was our best weapon against the virus, was it not? -NYLOCKE**

**Don't panic. Like I said earlier, I'm sure Kizuna and Zetto have a back-up plan. - Flamey**

**yeah but... what if we dont? - Alpha**

 

* * *

 

Kizuna stalked back and forth, carving a groove in the grass. Around her, her team was dotted around the small meadow where they'd ended up after fighting the virus earlier. Zetto was sat in the dirt to one side, cringing in pain as GC carefully bandaged his right ankle. Nye stood nearby, ice-blade planted in the ground and fingers nervously drumming against the elaborate crossguard. On Kizuna's other side, Alpha and Flamey sat side-by-side, hands clasped together, casting worried glances at both Zetto and Kirb, the latter of which was sat on the complete opposite side of the clearing from Zetto, turned sideways and determinedly staring out into the forest. He seemed unsure of whether he should turn away from Zetto completely so as to not see his pain, or to stay where he was and keep an eye on him in case he tried to share said pain with his other self.

Finally, Kizuna brought herself to a halt, throwing her arms up in frustration. "I am going on patrol," she announced, unable to keep an edge of anger out of her voice, "to make sure the virus doesn't come back just yet." She stalked off into the trees. "I'll be back whenever." A moment later, Nina bounded off out of the clearing.

GC finished bandaging Zetto's ankle. "Try not to walk on it," he advised.

"Yeah," Zetto quietly replied, sitting very still in the dirt.

Nye sighed and sat down where he stood, allowing the ice of his sword to evaporate away. "Well. This is a nice problem."

"I-I'm sure it's fine," Alpha replied, although he was hugging himself tight with worry. "There's more than one way to fight it, so..."

Flamey patted Alpha's hand reassuringly. "Don't worry. If Kizuna doesn't have a plan now, she will soon."

GC walked over to join Nye, sitting next to him. "On the bright side," he said, "this is the first time we've fought the virus without Demon."

"Yeah!" Flamey cried with a grin, rubbing Alpha's head and messing up his hair. "You're doing so much better at controlling your anger now!"

Alpha laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess..."

Kirb sighed to himself, letting his head fall forward until it was resting on his knees. "We should never have left Mechcity," he mumbled.

Flamey looked over at him curiously. "What was that, Kirb?"

"Nuthin'," Kirb replied, looking up. "Just talkin' to myself."

"Literally?" Zetto asked. "Because I didn't hear you, either."

Kirb glared. "Shut up." He flopped his head back on his knees. Zetto went back to nursing his injured ankle.

Nye decided to change the subject. "Surely when Lady Kizuna said the Breaker Beam was our best weapon against the virus, she must have meant there were other methods that might also work," he suggested. "Such as her gun, for example."

"It's not that simple," Zetto spoke up, instantly attracting attention if only because he so rarely injected himself into conversations. "Before the destruction of the base, we had scientists and mages working on methods to fight the virus using the same technology as the founders. We could only bring some of their results with us when we left, one of which, as you guessed, was Kizuna's gun."

"And your arm?" Flamey asked. "That too?"

Zetto nodded. "Part of it, anyway. It wasn't fully functional, but we hoped a moderately skilled electrician or mechanic could finish it." He closed his eyes. "When I lost my arm to the virus, we finally found that person. It was made into my robotic prosthetic here," he briefly waved his mechanical left arm, looking over it with emotionless eyes, "but until today, we were unable to both keep the virus still long enough to charge the Beam to full power and get a clear shot at the same time."

Alpha frowned in confusion. "So... that was a test run? And it didn't work?"

"More or less."

Nye grinned. "Well then! Lady Kizuna's weapon is a worthy substitute, correct?"

Kirb looked up to roll his eyes in Nylocke's direction. "Do you not listen to _anything?_ "

"Used together, my arm and her gun might do something," Zetto replied, "but we've been working from day one without any idea if they do at all. Given the apparent failure of the Breaker Beam, they might be totally ineffectual."

"I disagree," GC chimed in. "We may not have overpowered or destroyed the virus yet, but it fled after the beam was used, and it always ends our battles by doing so. If our efforts were truly doing nothing, it would not stop attacking for anything." He slightly cocked his head to one side. "Am I correct?"

Everyone else sat in the clearing paused in thought for several long moments.

"That... certainly seems to make the most sense, GC," Alpha replied.

Kirb slowly nodded. "Yeah, based on our experience with it..."

"Your theory does indeed seem to be correct," Zetto said, seemingly finishing Kirb's thought. "When Nina returns, I'm sure she will want to hear it."

"I am glad!" Nye boomed, holding a fist high in the air and jumping to his feet. "Now, let us resume our merry-making until Master Zetto's injury has healed, and we can continue on our most wonderful adventure to thwart the virus threat!"

Flamey smiled as she rolled her eyes. "'Most wonderful' isn't the term I'd use," she said to Alpha, who chuckled.

 

* * *

 

**THREE YEARS AGO**

**BREAK ROOM, ORGANISATION BASE**

A group of off-duty organisation members cheered as they huddled around the television in a corner. The program they were watching, a live feed of a brawling tournament in the Mechcity Stadium, came to an end, and Zetto climbed onto his chair right at the front of the small crowd, flipping the TV off with one swift wave of the remote. "Guys, guys!" he cried, waving his hands for calm but unable to keep a wide grin off his face. "Everyone calm down for a second!" The enthusiastic cheering quietened down, and Zetto chuckled. "That's better. I know we're all excited for the tournament finals tomorrow, I certainly am, but I just want to check this first: Everyone who has a day off tomorrow and is going into the city with me, raise your hand!"

To Zetto's delight, about half did so, happily shouting at each other. A small handful of those who didn't have hands raised grumbled to themselves about not getting the day off.

"Excellent!" Zetto cried. "I'll see you guys tomorrow at the front gates, nine sharp! If the rest of you want to come," he paused to laugh to himself, "you may still find someone even at this late hour willing to trade shifts with you. Now get out of here!"

Most of the crowd chose that moment to disperse, and Zetto climbed down from his chair. One member of his group of friends, a small pink slime with big red eyes, sighed as she approached him. "Aw man, how do you always manage to get the right day off?" she asked. "The shift supervisors have it in for me, I swear!"

Zetto laughed. "C'mon Ping, you seriously need to get on the ball with finding people to swap with, seriously!"

Pingunk shook her head, saying, "Nuh-uh, tried that. Supervisors vetoed it, remember?"

"That's because you had too big a gap between the swapped shifts," Zetto explained, "and they weren't even for the same job! There's an _art_ to this thing, Ping!"

A nearby batwing growled to himself as he jumped in the conversation. "You could just not turn up."

Instantly Zetto's grin vanished. "That's not funny, Thorment. Someone skips a shift like that, it can cost lives. Don't you ever dare suggest that to anyone again, do you hear me?"

Thorment rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, kid." He turned and walked off.

"Gee, what's got a bee in his bonnet?" Pingunk asked.

Zetto sighed. "Who knows. Who cares, more importantly." He turned back to his friend with a smile. "Next time there's a match or somethin', I'll gladly help you find someone to swap shifts with. I know pretty much everyone, after all."

Ping laughed, "Yeah yeah, you and lots of people here! I'll keep that in-." She stopped mid-sentence, looking behind Zetto. "Hey, how'd a cat get in here?"

"Zetto."

As Ping shrieked in shock, Zetto turned with a smile. Sat on the table beside the television was a golden-eyed cat he knew well. "Nina, you scared Ping!" he cheerfully admonished her.

"Wait, what!?" Ping asked.

Nina jumped off the table, and the instant she landed on the floor, she shifted forms into Kizuna. "My apologies," she said to the small slime, before turning to Zetto. "You borrowed my pen yesterday. I would like it back."

Scoffing, Zetto pointed out, "Kiz, it's a _pen_."

"And it's mine," Kizuna replied with a warning glare. "Give it back or you'll never get a favour from me ever again."

Zetto grumbled, but nodded an agreement. Ping gasped as something occurred to her, and she pawed at Kizuna's sleeve. "Kizuna! You have tomorrow off, don't you? You wanna swap shifts with me?"

Kizuna looked down at the slime, ignoring Zetto chuckling beside her. "I'm afraid you're too late," she said. "I already swapped shifts with someone for tomorrow."

"Who?" Ping asked.

Zetto tried and failed to hide his laughter behind a hand.

"Take a wild guess," Kizuna deadpanned, shooting a glare in Zetto's direction.

Ping whined and threw up her hands. "Aw, c'mon!" she cried. "I thought you were my friend, Zetto!"

Zetto just laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pingunk is a canon background character of Season One, most prominent as one of the five users in the forest that Kirb, Alpha and Flamey fight in the first episode. Kirbopher named him/her in a tumblr post, but I don't think I can link to it here.


	21. Journey: Kizuna

DBUG ORG DAILY LOG

MEMBER NAME: _Kizuna / Tigerlilly / Nina_

_I was tracking our locations on the map and noticed a disturbing trend: The virus seems to be returning to Mechcity. We don't know why, but Zetto theorises it might think it has a chance against the Founders themselves, since his Breaker Beam was proven not to work last month. Kirb thinks it might be sick of fighting us all the time and just happens to be running towards Mechcity. None of the rest of us have any other ideas, so either of him could be right at this point._

_We didn't encounter the virus today. This is concerning, as it matches both theories mentioned above. We have little choice but to follow it and try to protect anyone in the city from harm._

**On the bright side, we'll be in Mechcity! None of the rest of us ever really left Lavendera, so this will be pretty cool! - Flamey**

**Indeed! I have heard tell of the local brawling stadium there, where many legendary battles have taken place! -NYLOCKE**

**yeah, I think Flamey's got even GC excited about this place! it sounds awesome! - Alpha**

 

* * *

 

"So?" Flamey asked as the group huddled around the fire that evening. "It's heading towards a city. I'm sure it's done that before."

"It came to Lavendera, after all," Alpha agreed from his seat next to his all-but-official girlfriend.

Kizuna sighed and shook her head with worry, taking care not to lose her grip on the map resting on her legs. "No, no. When it went to Lavendera, it was a problem, but we guessed pretty quickly it was going after Kirb." She glanced over at the small shifter, who was sitting opposite her, between Flamey and Nye. "Before that, it outright avoided the cities. If it went near one, it was sort of in a circular winding path," she gestured with one hand over her map, "which it didn't do for Lavendera and it isn't doing _now_. This is a _problem._ "

"It's clearly going after the Founders," Zetto spoke up, sat a way back from the fire, closest to Kizuna and GC. "It must reserve beelines like that for specific targets, and there's only one possible target it can have besides us."

Nye scratched his chin. "But why now? You said it's always avoided the Founders before, correct? That was how the Organisation began!"

"A very good question," GC pointed out.

Kirb scoffed, waving a hand. "You guys're worrying too much!" he cried with a smug smile, leaning back cockily. "It knows the Founders could destroy it in one shot if they wanted to!"

"That's just it," Zetto replied, " _if they wanted to._ They haven't and since we failed to do any significant damage with the Breaker Beam, it's obviously decided it stands a chance against the Founders, if only because they've done absolutely nothing to fight it since Mechcity was built."

"Yeah, but we still _hurt_ it!" Kirb shot back, leaning forward and jabbing a finger in Zetto's direction. "It's running away from us and it probably hasn't even noticed it's running towards Mechcity!" He held his arms behind his head with a smirk. "Maybe it's just lookin' for defenceless targets. Who are we to know?"

Alpha gasped. "Kirb, that's terrible!" he pointed out. "I-if that's what it's doing, it's even more important we stop it!"

Kirb had to think for a moment before he registered Alpha's comment. "O-oh," he mumbled, lowering his arms before adding with a nervous laugh, "I didn't even notice that's what I was saying..."

"Regardless of what it's doing," GC said, "there is not much we can do about it except follow it to Mechcity."

Kizuna sighed again. "Unfortunately, you're right. And I know from experience it will be next to impossible to track once it gets there." She turned to Zetto. "We're gonna need a plan. A much better one than last time."

Zetto nodded.

Flamey thought a moment, trying to hide a small smile. "So, does this mean we'll be getting to see some of Mechcity?"

"It looks like it," Kizuna agreed.

"Eeee!" Flamey suddenly squealed, waving excited fists in a short display of glee. "This is so cool!" She turned to Alpha. "Sat used to live in Mechcity, y'know! She used to talk all the time about all the things you can do there!"

Nye chuckled. "Indeed! They have a large, public stadium, do they not?"

"Oh yeah!" Alpha cried. "That's where that tournament we never signed up to was going to be held!"

Kirb rolled his eyes and quietly backed out of the conversation as it continued with much excitement. Stepping carefully, he circled around behind his friends to his other self, who he briefly grasped hands with before sitting back down beside Kizuna, who was pre-occupied frowning at her map in concern. "Hey," he whispered, "I dunno about you, but I don't have the heart to tell them Mechcity's not nearly as great as they think it is."

Kizuna snorted in laughter, looking up from her map to give her friend a smile. "Yeah," she quietly agreed. "Sanctuary's much better."

"Oh?" Kirb asked with a grin. "I've never been."

"Really?" Kizuna laughed again. "I'd've sworn you'd go the moment you heard of it, if only to complain about it not living up to its name!"

Kirb scoffed. "Oh really? When have I ever done that?"

"I can name several examples," Kizuna gently threatened.

"Lies!" Kirb claimed with a grin, then calmed and patted Kizuna's arm. "Seriously though, Kiz, don't worry so much about the virus. We'll take care of it. I know we will."

Kizuna nodded, giving her friend a grateful smile. "Of course we will."

 

* * *

 

**THREE YEARS AGO**

**SENTRY TOWER THREE, ORGANISATION BASE**

Below the middle tower of the eastern wall, Zetto and Kizuna laughed as they walked through the long shadows of the rising sun. It was very quiet this early in the morning, especially after the events of the previous day, so the two shifters felt free to relax as they arrived at the ladder leading up to the sentry tower's top.

"Well, this is my stop," Zetto sighed with a smile. "You have fun in town today!"

Kizuna nodded, laughing. "Sure. Keep the base in one piece for me until I get back, you hear me?"

Zetto waved a hand, pulling himself up onto the ladder and giving his friend an innocent grin. "What, and ruin all my fun?" He laughed, then shooed Kizuna away. "You go shopping, or whatever it is you've got planned to do today!"

"I'll see you this afternoon!" Kizuna called as she turned and walked off towards the gate to the north.

"Seeya then!" Zetto agreed, then turned his attention to climbing the ladder. It was a long one, and during his climb, he ran through in his mind all the alerts and warnings they'd received recently about the virus being in the area. He had even helped Flash come up with additional security measures, should it try to attack the base. Neither thought it likely, but it was always good to be prepared for anything.

Finally, Zetto reached the top of the ladder and climbed up into the small hut at the top of the sentry tower. On duty, due to finish his shift, was a batwing Zetto counted as an 'acquaintance', a relatively new member of the Organisation he'd only encountered a few times now. "Thorment," Zetto called, attracting the batwing's attention as he walked over to join him looking out over the forests that surrounded the base. "See anything suspicious?"

Thorment glared. "What, no boasting about getting to go to that tournament yesterday?" he muttered.

Zetto blinked in surprise before looking up. "Huh?" It took another moment for his mind to switch gears and remember the last time he and Thorment had spoken, just two days before. "Wait, are you _seriously_ bitter I told you off for threatening lives?"

The batwing snorted, stalking over to the ladder. "At least if _I'd_ been able to get time off, it would have been honest."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zetto asked, now even more confused. "I swapped sentry shifts with a friend, there's no rule against doing that."

"Not that," Thorment said with a shake of his head, facing away from the shifter. "Everyone at this base knows how you're Flashblade's favourite. His _teacher's pet_ , you could say. You could get away with murder and only suffer a wagged finger for it."

Zetto suddenly realised what this was really about and had to fight to restrain his rising anger. "We are not having this conversation right now," he growled. "I admit, I goof around when I'm off-duty, but I would _never_ abuse my friendship with Flashblade or allow lives to-!"

"You're a Kiziti," Thorment interrupted, turning to face Zetto. "Everyone knows what _your_ kind are like. You can't handle responsibility, it's just _constant playtime_ with you."

Zetto could feel his face turning red as a tomato in barely restrained anger, and he spun around to look back out over the forests, shifting into Kirb as he moved. "Enough! Consider yourself on Scout duty for the rest of the year!" he ordered in a harsh shout. "I'm sure being on the front line for a while will teach you some solid lessons about _respect!_ "

There was a long silence before Kirb heard Thorment scoff and mutter "Whatever, _kid_." A moment later, the batwing flapped out of the tower and back down to the base.

Kirb stared out at the forest without seeing it for several minutes before he was able to calm down properly. _'I know I'm not goofing around with people's lives,'_ he assured himself. _'I'm not a child. I... I'll just tell Flash what happened, let him mete out a punishment...'_ He sighed. _'He is right about one thing, though; I would be a terrible leader.'_ Before putting the incident out of his mind to concentrate on his job, the shifter decided he'd try again at a rational discourse with Thorment before bringing the matter up to Flash. He didn't want to put his friend through more than he could handle, and couldn't help blaming himself for getting angry so easily. After lunch, once his shift was over, he swore he would put it all right.

Out in the trees, carefully keeping out of sight of the eastern towers, a striped cloud flitted back and forth, making plans of its own.


	22. Journey: Zetto

DBUG ORG DAILY LOG

MEMBER NAME: _Zetto / Kirbopher_

_This is Kirbopher writing this, not Zetto as has been usual the past three years. Then again, neither of me has written an entry since the others joined up. It's been, what, half a year now?_

_I'm currently making plans for our entry into Mechcity tomorrow. Other-Me insists my emotions are messing with his logic, but I need any of his logic I can get to write in this thing, so he can go screw himself. Actually that statement has an awful lot of double meanings behind it considering my situation. Pretend I didn't write it. This two-body thing is confusing enough._

_Kizuna's worrying about what the virus is doing back in Mechcity, and it's hard to tell her not to when I'm just as panicked about it. Well, it's easy for one of me, anyway, not that other-me could comfort her at all. The others know it's a problem, but aren't discussing it, just focusing on how 'awesome' Mechcity will be. Probably a self-preservation thing, especially in Alpha's case. He's managed to go a whole week now without letting out Demon, although it's an easy enough task when we've barely seen the virus at all in that time._

_I've finalised the plan. Zetto will take the others into the city, let them have a break, then go to our back-up hideout by the docks. Kizuna and Kirb will go back to the old base, and see if any of the equipment is still there after the authorities found it. I disagreed with myself on which of me would do what, but I've come to an agreement._

_Sentences like that are why I leave these reports to Kizuna._

 

* * *

 

**THREE YEARS AGO**

**OUTER GATE, ORGANISATION BASE**

Nina stared up at the ruins that were once the only way in or out of the Organisation Base. The wire mesh gates were distorted and thrown off their hinges, lying flat on the ground as though an explosion from inside had ripped through them. The steel wall bridging the gap above the gate between the reinforced concrete sentry towers on either side was heavily dented from below, and mostly hanging off only a few untouched supports to the walls. There was nothing left of the small guardhouse that had stood just inside the gate, only bits of wood and the occasional piece of paper dotted around the pavement.

Although Nina dreaded what she would find beyond, she plucked up her courage and climbed over the fallen gates, making her way through into the square.

The base looked like a bomb had hit it... a bomb of black rust and death. The eastern sentry towers and the wall joining them had been reduced to rubble, the epicentre seeming to be Sentry Tower Three, the spot where she had, just hours ago, last seen Zetto. She felt her heart sink like lead, but swallowed back the fear and forced herself to concentrate. Bodies of other friends and acquaintances, or rather, bits of them, littered the ground all around, hidden amongst the rubble of the fallen wall or just laying out in the open. The reinforced doors leading inside the main building were missing, leaving only the large empty doorway into the main hall of the complex. The remaining walls and ground of the square were covered in great black stripes, the unmistakable rust-like tracks of the virus. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened while she'd been in the city enjoying her day off.

The smell of the dead suddenly hit Nina's nose like a tidal wave, and she resisted the urge to vomit. Although she was unwilling to give up the stealth of Nina's small size, her enhanced sense of smell was going to undo all that if she didn't shift soon. She briefly considering shifting to Tigerlilly, who had no sense of smell at all, but she hated the idea of making herself even more conspicuous, so she instead shifted into Kizuna. Cursing that she had no weapons save for Tigerlilly's claws, Kizuna dashed across the open square, hand held tightly over her nose, dodging arms, fallen concrete, wings and iron bars, until she finally threw herself flat against the wall of the main building. Pausing, she listened carefully to her surroundings and tried to figure out what had happened. Obviously, the virus had attacked, and seemed to have come in through the eastern wall, _'oh, Zetto...'_ , killed most if not all of the people inside, then left through the gate. Why it hadn't gone out the way it came in, she couldn't say. _'First things first, if the virus is actually gone, I need to search for survivors.'_ A part of her started cataloguing the body parts she recognised, such as an arm with a prominent tattoo of a ship, _'Buccaring,'_ , a torso with wings covered in brown and bloody feathers, _'Starling,'_ a lone hoof with carefully-applied sky-blue polish and long pale pink fur, _'Unifilly,'_ and a massive wheel surrounded by shreds of circuitry and purple metal, _'Sniperwheel.'_

Suddenly Kizuna heard something, coming from her left. Was it... scratching? No, it was _sobbing!_ And she could hear a pair of boots walking around! _Survivors!_ They must be inside, she reasoned, but she restrained herself from racing after them in her excitement and desperation for some kind of hope-spot. After all, there was still the possibility of either the virus or even the cops hanging around, and she didn't want to risk it. She carefully edged sideways along the wall, pausing only to step over the body of an unfortunate batwing cloaked in blue, _'Thorment,'_ or jump away from the wall in shock when she recognised an ominous blue splatter, _'Bubb.'_ Approaching the door, she took a deep breath, then stepped up to the edge and poked her head into the doorway.

The hallway, as she had seen from a distance, was empty of anything still living. On the floor within, like two sentries, were a pair of disembodied heads, one scaled with orange hair, _'Serpentine,'_ and the other pink-skinned and blond, a shattered wooden tube not far away, _'Dijiri.'_ She carefully crept out of the entrance and walked softly along the wall, ears focussed on the sobbing and the boots, much closer now than they had been outside. It was as she passed a pair of legs with a brilliant red feathered tail, _'Crimcaw,'_ that she identified the sounds she was following as coming from the mess hall, coming up on her right.

Dashing across the hallway, Kizuna carefully edged up on the wide open doors of the base's cafeteria. She dismissed any surprise at the relatively undamaged doors (simply heavily dented and covered in virus tracks), and tip-toed around them to again peer into the room, only to gasp. The first thing to catch her eye, pacing back and forth near the southern wall, was Zetto, staring at the floor as he methodically walked in an oval by the numerous upturned and destroyed tables and chairs. He looked mostly unharmed, except that apparently someone had thrown a fireball at the back of his head and destroyed his normally smooth hairstyle, which was now spiked and tinged with black soot. Looking at the expression on his face, Kizuna assumed he must be _very_ deep in thought, since there was no apparent sign of shock or really any reaction at all to the death and destruction around him.

Nearby Zetto, Kizuna next saw the source of the sobbing she had heard, at first glance only a lump of ripped, green fabric hunched over the distressingly still body of Flashblade, who was covered in multiple wounds and partially lying in a puddle of rapidly drying blood. As Kizuna stared, she realised the person underneath the green fabric was, in fact, Kirbopher. _'But... that doesn't make any sense!'_ He also seemed unharmed, despite the excessive damage to his clothes, and was clutching some kind of sword in a green sheath that had three parallel gouges torn into it on one side.

Potential explanations for what she was seeing raced through her head. _'First, Zetto and someone pretending to be his other form, either another Organisation survivor or a cop. Second, two cops pretending to be Zetto and Kirb, too dumb to realise they're both being the same person. Third, some new power of the virus intended to draw people close before it strikes. Fourth, I've gone completely mad.'_ She hoped it wasn't the last one, and the part of her that had been elated to see her friend alive, or _anyone_ alive, fell at the more-than-likely possibility his image before her was only a trick. _'Well, there's only one way to find out.'_ She took a deep breath and, unwilling to let this pair of "Zettos" out of her sight by fetching a weapon from the armoury, slowly crept out into the doorway. A glance downward subsequently ruined all attempts at stealth, as she suddenly realised she was placing her foot in the centre of a pink stain on the floor, _'Pingunk,'_ and jumped with a cry, frantically keeping herself from falling over as she leapt away from the remains and clung to the other edge of the doorway. _'That could've gone better.'_

Unsurprisingly, the spectacle she'd made of herself attracted the attention of the two in the room. Zetto simply stopped his pacing to stare at her, while Kirbopher turned, brown eyes wide, and paused for only a moment before leaping to his feet and rushing at her. "Kiz!" he cried, and Kizuna barely had any time to react before the shorter shifter had latched on to her, arms flung around her waist and face buried in her chest, his tears proceeding to soak through her dress. "It's all my fault!" he cried hysterically, "I killed them, Kiz! They're dead _because of me!_ "

It was then Kizuna recognised Flashblade's katana in Kirb's hands, and realised there was no way in hell this was anything other than her closest friend. Unsure quite how to react, she held her arms around him in support, and looked up suspiciously at Zetto, who had followed Kirb at a more sedate pace. _'Next question: What kind of idiot is masquerading as Zetto?'_

Zetto stood about a metre away, looking blankly at Kizuna and Kirb. "I've tried talking sense into him," he said. "He refuses to listen. Refused to even move until just now."

At that, something in Kizuna snapped. " _'Listen to reason'!?_ " she cried, glaring incredulously at this 'Zetto' impostor in front of her. "What kind of heartless bastard ignores what is clearly some kind of emotional breakdown and demands someone _listen to reason!?_ Have you never heard of _offering sympathy!?_ "

Kirb's arms around her waist suddenly tightened, cutting Kizuna's tirade short, and she looked down at him only momentarily to give him a reassuring squeeze. When she looked back up at Zetto, he was still giving her the same emotionless stare. "I'm afraid I cannot tell," he replied. "It must be a side-effect of how the virus split me, or us, into two."

"The...?" Kizuna felt her mouth fall open wordlessly. The virus. Of course. That was a possibility that she really should have thought of earlier. She looked down at Kirb in her arms and hugged him all the tighter. "Don't worry," she whispered. "Everything will be alright. We'll find a way to fix this...

"... I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starling (no relation to the commenter of the same name!) and Crimcaw are original characters of mine created specifically for this story. Buccaring and Unifilly are also original characters of mine, created previously.


	23. Revisit

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The science of magic is a truly amazing field to be in. In the last decade alone, advances have been made that allow us to finally unravel the structures of ancient spells that have eluded study for millennia and help us to begin to understand the true mastery of the craft that our ancient ancestors held. Whether it be as complicated as the curse that once lay on TOME's soil or as simple as the famous failing illusion spell on Duckskull Island's cliff face, modern magic-scientists are finally getting those glimpses into the past we had long thought would never come. Although the spell-weaves are much different now than it was then, the same basic spells return again and again, from manipulation of fire, water or electricity to illusions to the inexplicable biologies of Shifters, Dragons and Slimes. Magic is truly everywhere, and it's the greatest job there is to be able to document and observe it in action._

**Citation needed! There's way too much bias in this! LOL -R**

**I have to agree with Webby though, this is exactly why I became a magiscientist. :) -K**

**really? i just failed geology -B**

**I find myself wondering if our dear departed teammate would have agreed, too. -E**

**geez, make it sad why don't you -B**

**I'll meet you all at the cemetery, then. -W**

**yeah, see you guys there -B**

 

* * *

 

Nina casually walked up the final stretch of dirt road leading to the Debug Organisation's abandoned base. At first glance, it looked much the same as it had when she last saw it, the day of the virus attack, but as she got closer, she started to see differences. Firstly, the authorities had clearly done some clean-up duty when they discovered it, as the destroyed gates, unstable walls and general rubble, not to mention the remains of her former co-workers, were all gone. Secondly, as she should have expected after three years, the barrier between forest and concrete wall had disappeared, with grass and small trees and plants beginning to encroach on the building within.

The small cat leapt up to the spot where the gate used to be and looked around at the square beyond. Seeing no sign of activity, she turned to the tree line and called in a squeaky voice, "All clear."

Out of the trees, nervously casting glances back and forth, came Kirb, quickly sneaking up to Nina's side and crouching as he also surveyed the area. "Wow," he whispered. "Don't remember it being this... _destroyed_ when we left."

"You weren't exactly in the right state of mind to be looking around," Nina quietly pointed out.

Kirb smirked. "You forget that Zetto and I share memories on that psychic link. _He_ was looking around."

There was a short pause as the pair stayed put, looking around at the partially-overgrown building, still covered in the scars of the virus attack three years previous. Nina looked up at Kirb. "Are you sure you want to be here again? I don't mind if you want to turn around and leave."

" _You're_ asking _me_?" Kirb replied, returning Nina's gaze with a smile marred by concern. "I'm fine, I promise. Honestly, I was more worried about you."

"Ha!" Nina laughed. "I'm not the one who..." She trailed off, turning to look out at the open square with a frown. "Let's just do this." The cat sprang to her feet and rushed out into the square, snaking through the grass in the direction of the door into the main building.

" _Wait!_ " Kirb whispered urgently, hurrying to follow Nina at a crouch and not lose sight of her in the tall grass.

The pair arrived at the doorway, and Nina slowed down to lead the way down the hall. They paused at every doorway, Kirb dashing in to give the various rooms they passed a once-over while Nina stood guard outside. The only doors they bypassed were the two leading to the mess hall; There were simply too many bad memories associated with the room for either of them to want to check it. Anything and everything Kirb saw in the rooms, he narrated to Nina outside, and it wasn't long before she noticed there was an awful lot of _stuff_ lying around for a supposedly cleared base.

"Wait a moment," Nina instructed as the pair reached the end of the straight hallway, where it branched off to a short corridor on the left and a staircase leading upwards ahead. Kirb stopped and looked down at her quizzically. "Have you noticed something similar about all of the rooms we've investigated?"

Kirb frowned, trying to hide his hurt with frustration. "Did we not establish I'm not capable of that?"

Nina shook her head. "Of course. Sorry. I meant to say, for an abandoned 'terrorist' base that the authorities know about and went to the trouble of clearing, they left an awful lot of stuff behind here."

"Huh," Kirb replied, glancing backwards down the hall to the distant light of day. It was true that every room so far had been cleared of things like personal belongings and electronics, but chairs, tables and other large furniture was left untouched. "And what does that mean?"

"It _means_ ," Nina continued, "that I don't know what it means. I'm trying to figure it out."

Kirb rolled his eyes. "A simple 'I don't know' would have been fine."

Nina ignored him, turning down the corridor to the left. It didn't go far before ending at a large, reinforced door. "The Vault. Flashblade's personal quarters," Nina narrated, feeling the need to remind Kirb, "and a giant safe for all the most important files and equipment. If the virus didn't get in here, then the police likely didn't either."

"Believe me, the virus didn't go further than the mess hall," Kirb said with a bitter laugh, following her to the door. "When they sounded the alarm, this would've been locked up tight as everyone ran to their battle-stations." _'And their deaths,'_ he mentally added with a guilty wince, resting a hand on the katana on his belt.

"I hope it's still possible to even open this thing after so long," Nina said as she gingerly stepped forward and sniffed at the heavy door. "I can hear humming somewhere... and I don't smell any signs of damaged circuitry." She gestured to two medium-sized panels in the centre of the handle-less door. "Flash put your 'prints in it, right?"

Kirb nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I remember he had trouble because the system wasn't designed for assigning more than one imprint to one person, so-"

"Just test it," Nina ordered, stepping away from the door with an annoyed frown, tail twitching back and forth. "We don't have all day."

Tutting to himself, Kirb stepped forward and held his hands against the two panels, which came to life at his touch. After scanning the feel of his skin, the electronics buzzed as they did a quick magical scan, and, determining a positive match, flashed the message "WELCOME KIRBOFER" before returning to their blank state. Kirb chuckled to himself at the message, then stepped back as the large door slowly began to move towards him, swinging open with only the aid of gravity now that it was free of the locking mechanism. He jumped forward again to help push it open fully, but lacked the strength to do much more than that. Nina, taking pity on him, shifted into Kizuna to help, and together they managed to push the heavy door until it caught on a latch in the roof, which securely held it wide open.

Kirb and Kizuna looked at each other for a moment, panting from the exertion. "Well?" Kizuna asked.

"Let's check it out," Kirb agreed with a grin.

It had felt wrong to go into Flashblade's wing when they were last here, and a remnant of that feeling remained even now, but Kizuna and Kirb suppressed it with the knowledge that Flash may have had a final trick up his sleeve hidden away in here he would have wanted them to use. They entered the first room on the left of the wide-but-short corridor beyond the door: Flashblade's office and the home of the Organisation's most important files. It wasn't a large room, taken up mostly by a small desk (cleared of all but a single neat pile of paper) and a pair of filing cabinets, whose drawers were all hanging slightly open.

"Hey, that's convenient!" Kirb cried with a smile, running to the cabinets and beginning a casual search through the files within. After a moment, he laughed, pulling out a wad of paper from a folder, which he was quick to show off to Kizuna. "Ha! First try, landed on the virus research! I'm good!"

As Kirb took his papers to the desk to look through them more thoroughly, Kizuna regarded the room suspiciously, slowly approaching the cabinets herself. "I don't remember Flash moving his computer from this desk," she said. "Or the file cabinets _ever_ being left open for _any_ reason."

"Are you just being suspicious of everything for the sake of it?" Kirb asked with an amused smile, flipping through the paper he had procured.

Kizuna ignored her friend, pulling open one drawer of the filing cabinet and finding to her shock that it was empty. She knew this drawer well, as it was the furthest she'd ever been into the Vault, and it was supposed to contain all the personnel files, the records of every person living and working on the base and all of their details for every eventuality. She'd been here multiple times in the past, fetching files for alterations or additions, but even then it was policy to only remove one at a time. For every single one to be gone was just beyond belief.

There was a sudden ringing sound of metal on concrete, and Kizuna spun around to see a small key had tumbled out of Kirb's papers, landing on the floor by his feet. Kirb cried in triumph and snatched it off the floor, running out the door, where he paused only momentarily to look back at his friend. "Come and see this, Kiz!" he called with a beckoning gesture.

"Do I have a choice?" Kizuna asked, but Kirb was already gone, so she followed him out the door with an exasperated sigh.

 

* * *

 

In the exact middle of Mechcity, in the top floor of the tallest building, a computer in an empty office suddenly came to life. In the centre of its screen was an alert window.

**Movement detected in network "DBUG BASE". View video?**

**OK      CANCEL**


	24. Exploration

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The so-called 'leader' of the Five Founders of the Terrain Of Magical Expertise and CEO of Netking Labs, Webmaster was granted his position by democratic vote on the formation of the scientific team determined to investigate and unweave the Ancient Curse of what is now TOME. Born to diplomat parents, he spent his childhood travelling the world, and only settled down in his teens as his parents retired in their home country of Wengaland. He excelled in school, particularly when it came to his greatest interests of magic and history, and went on to major in Magiscience at Gallanch University, focussing his thesis on the subject of ancient spell-weaving. This led to him meeting Execk, and within the year, the two had together began their plans for an expedition into the Ancient Cursed Lands._

**I apologise for generalising - this is only a first draft. -W**

**No, no, it's very true to how we met. And stop doubting your status as leader, you're excellent at it. -E**

**You're certainly the only person Bitshrum will listen to :P -K**

**hey! -B**

 

* * *

 

After leaving Kirb and Kizuna somewhere south of Mechcity, Zetto led Alpha, Flamey, Nye and GC up the road and the furthest they had been into civilisation in over six months. At Alpha's request, he showed them the local shopping centre, Palm Tree Plaza, the regular hangout for Organisation members when off-base. As well as the usual supermarket or three, there were small speciality shops of all kinds across its two floors, and despite the backpacks on their backs the four visitors found it hard to restrain themselves from buying anything as they spent their morning relaxing and hanging out with their friends, far away from the dangers of the wilderness outside Tome's cities.

Lunchtime found the group sitting in the food court, looking up the nearby escalators at the Plaza's theatre above. Zetto had insisted on paying for the group's food himself, saying only that he was demonstrating another benefit of being an Organisation member as he pulled out a green plastic card, and, now they were all seated, he placed it on the table for the group to examine.

"It's just a bank card, right?" Alpha asked as he picked it up, looking around warily before he continued in a quieter tone, "What does it have to do with the Organisation?"

Flamey took the card from Alpha, examining it carefully herself. "You've been using this for all those supplies," she realised. "How do you still have money on this?"

"This bank card once belonged to our founder," Zetto explained. "Kizuna presumably told you that he used to be an employee of Netking Labs."

The card itself had now passed on to Nye, who frowned curiously at the 'NKL' logo. "This 'Flashblade'," he said as he noticed the name, "he was a scientist?"

"Not quite," Zetto replied. "But his work with them earned him a lot of money he never used, until he set up the Organisation and this became our primary source of revenue. We have no way of knowing how much money is actually available to us, but Flash did once tell me to consider it bottomless."

GC was handed the card, and forwent any examining of it to hand the plastic rectangle straight back to Zetto. "So you are frugal with the money you spend in case you find it isn't as bottomless as he'd claimed," he stated. "Did Flashblade share the PIN with you for any particular reason?"

"We were friends," Zetto said. "I was friends with a lot of people on the base. It's always been easy for me; Just look at how quickly you four befriended my other self."

Alpha, Flamey and Nye smiled and laughed at the individual reminders of how they'd all met Kirb, and even GC seemed to smile despite his lack of a mouth.

"And did you, and Kizuna, and your friends come to this place often?" Flamey asked with a giggle.

"Reasonably often," Zetto replied, looking up at the theatre above them. "Usually to watch a movie. It all depended on who was off-duty on any given day." He looked back down at Flamey. "I spent more time at the stadium, myself. There's always some kind of brawling going on there."

Nye's face lit up. "Ah yes, the stadium!" he cried. "Let us go there next!"

"That sounds great!" Alpha enthusiastically agreed.

Zetto moved to stand up and grab his bag, but Flamey grabbed his arm and pushed him back into his seat. "Wait for us to finish our food, first," she instructed with a smirk.

 

* * *

 

"This is the main thoroughfare of the city," Zetto narrated as the group turned onto a major road, cars filling the lanes and pedestrians like them filling the pavement. Inbetween the lanes was a prominent median strip, decorated with trees, grass and hedges. The buildings on either side were tall and clearly designed to be beautiful when placed together as they were, sweeping into each other with elegant curves and repeated patterns across the reflective glass.

Flamey thought for a moment as they fought through the midday crowds. "This is Netking Parade?" she filled in.

Zetto nodded. "The stadium isn't far from here, on Stadium Boulevard."

"I'm guessing that's named after the stadium," Alpha joked.

"It is," Zetto answered, unnoticing of the group's ensuing laughter.

They walked in silence for ten minutes or so, before Zetto directed them to an underpass that, he said, would lead them onto Stadium Boulevard. It was surprisingly pleasant for an underground tunnel, with frosted glass windows letting in sunlight and large enough that it didn't feel claustrophobic.

"Excuse me?" cried a soft voice from their left, and some of the group turned to see a small blue cat-like shifter, looking scared and alone as she pleaded to passers-by. "I just need some directions- Sir? Ma'am? I need help..."

Nylocke didn't even stop to think about it, immediately leaving the small cluster of their group to approach the girl. Flamey was sure to grab Zetto's arm to stop him wandering off and leaving them behind, and wordlessly followed Nye. Alpha, GC and Zetto (if only because he was being dragged) were close behind her.

"Fair maiden!" Nye cried as he held out his hand for the star-adorned shifter to take. "I hope I may be able to offer the assistance you require?"

The girl grinned, taking Nye's hand to shake it wildly. "Oh, thank you!" Her grin faded a little as she released him. "I'm lost," she explained. "My friend was showing me around, and I think I took a wrong turn or missed the bus he was aiming for, and now I have no idea where I am!"

"We are underneath Netking Parade," GC replied, "if that is any help."

"Where were you headed?" Flamey asked.

The girl frowned. "Well, it was meant to be a surprise, so I'm not really sure," she admitted. "He did say something about 'docks', but Mechcity doesn't _have_ docks!"

"Actually, it does," Zetto spoke up. "There's a canal leading from the ocean to the north of the city. We were planning to go there today ourselves."

"Really!?" the girl cried, initially excited but forcing herself to calm down as she gave the group a sheepish look. "You... wouldn't be able to tell me how to get there, would you?"

"I see no reason not to escort you there ourselves, fair maiden!" Nye cried, grinning at his friends. "Nobody has any problem with skipping straight there, do they?"

Flamey and GC shook their heads, while Alpha smiled as he said, "Nope!"

Zetto just watched them all with his usual blank expression. "We'll have to turn around, but I can lead us there."

"Excellent!" Nye proclaimed, and he turned to extravagantly bow to the shifter girl. "We should introduce ourselves, fair maiden! My name is Nylocke, Master of the Cold Steel!"

The girl giggled. "I'm Hyprelinx," she replied. "Thank you for helping me, Nylocke!"

"No trouble at all, young miss!" Nye insisted.

 

* * *

 

As the group of six made their way north via bus, they had the opportunity to chat with Hyprelinx. She and her family had moved to Sanctuary only a few months back, and today she was meeting up with an old school-friend by the name of Elescope, who had moved to Mechcity two years ago. They'd been running to catch a bus when they got separated, and Hyprelinx had wandered hopelessly for several minutes before she found herself in the underpass below Netking Parade.

"You do not have mobile phones?" Nye asked.

Hyprelinx shook her head with disgust. "Elescope does. My ma thinks they cause brain cancer, so I don't have one."

"Oh, geeze," Flamey muttered in surprise.

"It's okay," Hyprelinx continued with a smile. "I'm hoping maybe telling her the story of how I got lost today will finally change her mind!"

Half an hour after they had found the young shifter, the group got off the bus and looked out over Mechcity's docks. There were a few massive ships dotted around, surrounded by massive cranes and towers of shipping containers. In front of them, the massive canal stretched out into the horizon in a perfectly straight line.

Hyperlinx ignored the view, looking back and forth along the boardwalk worriedly. "I don't see him anywhere..."

"Linx!" came a shout from behind, and the group spun around to see a lanky brown shifter with a spiky head and torso waving at them excitedly from across the road.

"Scope!" Hyprelinx shouted, and the pair barely glanced up and down the quiet road before dashing across and meeting in the middle with a big hug, Elescope's height lifting Hyprelinx off the ground easily. "I thought I'd never find you!"

"I'm so glad you found where to go!" Elescope replied, putting her down as they proceeded to get off the road, returning to the bus stop. "I didn't know where to even _start_ looking once I noticed you were gone, so I thought I'd better wait here to see if you made it!"

Hyprelinx laughed, gesturing to her new friends. "Thanks to these guys I did!"

"Greetings!" Nye boomed, waving at the shifter with a smile.

"Well, thank you for all your help!" Elescope replied. "I don't know _what_ I could've done if Linx never made it here."

Flamey laughed. "We were heading here, anyway! It's no trouble!"

"Just don't lose each other again, Lady Hyprelinx!" Nye added.

"I won't!" Hyprelinx promised. "I suppose this is goodbye for you guys, though. If we're lucky, maybe we'll run into each other again!"

"That would be awesome!" Alpha agreed.

Elescope nodded. "Thanks again!" He then turned to his shorter friend. "C'mon, I wanted to show you around!" With that, the pair wandered off down the road, waving to the five stood at the bus stop.

GC turned to his friends. "They were nice," he said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.

 

* * *

 

12:45:30 **EXE >** Who's online right now?

12:45:39 **Humble Pie >** I'm here, on the phone tho

12:45:41 **SPORE KING >** wat do u want?

12:45:43 **rubirules >** Here

12:45:43 **~Dreaming~ >** i'm here. what is it? :?

12:45:49 **EXE >** Oh good, that's everyone.

12:45:54 **EXE >** Come to my office at earliest convenience.

12:45:58 **rubirules >** On my way

12:46:06 **~Dreaming~ >** oh no! is this bad? :(

12:46:13 **EXE >** It is, I'm afraid.

12:46:17 **~Dreaming~ >** I'm on my way, then :o

12:46:21 **SPORE KING >** wats so important u cant just say it

12:46:26 **EXE >** Believe me, you'll want to see this.

12:46:31 **Humble Pie >** I'll be there asap

12:46:39 **Humble Pie >** believe it or not, I have something important for you too


	25. Concerned Allies

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The reasons why Kiziti Shifters are so hard to find are many and varied, but by far the largest is the discrimination they face outside of their home countries, forcing most to hide their cultural origin and thus making themselves deliberately hard to find. The view of them as a race of children is wide-spread, comparing their multiple forms to a Shifter child who has yet to settle. There are many papers analysing how this comparison harms Kiziti Shifters worldwide, if you know where to find them, and the small ways the Kiziti who has been 'outed' may be constantly reminded of their status in popular culture by their peers. The few times a fictional Kiziti appears in popular culture it tends to be a childish stereotype of this, with low intellect, an inability to handle responsibility and tendency to run from their problems; This is not helped by the tendency to cast either child Shifters or multiple adults as these 'comedic' Kiziti characters, giving the few Kiziti actors out there even fewer roles in which they can, or are willing to, act. Less prominent is the view of them as a backwards, sometimes evil, society, based on the evidence that all ancient Shifters shared the Kiziti ability to settle into multiple adulthood forms. Unfortunately, there are several scientific papers supporting this view, and it is still a staple belief among anthropologists._

**Ouch, I didn't know Kizitis had it quite so hard. You gotta email me those analyses. I want to read this for myself. -R**

**Not to mention, I'd never even heard of Kizitis until Itiz from 'My Brother and Me'. And 'Itiz' isn't even a Kiziti name! -E**

**I'll be glad to email you those links, Rubi - those guys explain it far better than I could. Execk, that's a good point. I might actually need an entirely separate article discussing Kiziti names. -W**

 

* * *

 

Kizuna found Kirb a little way down the hall from Flash's office, at a somewhat-out-of-place garage door on the right. After a minute or so of fiddling with the lock, he finally managed to open it, grinning widely as he pushed the rolling door up and open, then disappeared into the darkness inside. Kizuna rolled her eyes as she moved to follow, only to stop dead in her tracks as Kirb turned on the lights and she was able to survey the room beyond. It was much larger than she expected, reminding her somewhat of a cross between a large garage and a school chemistry lab; The far half of the room was taken up with stone-topped concrete counters full of scientific equipment, while the near half had an open space in which sat larger pieces of equipment, some crates and a single black van.

Kirb, having been looking around the room himself, spun around to face Kizuna, still grinning widely. "Welcome to the lab!" he cried, arms held out wide.

Kizuna took a moment to find her words. "It's... not what I imagined it would be," she said, "although I did always wonder where exactly it was."

Laughing, Kirb leaned against a counter-top, arms crossed. "I last came in here - well, Zetto did - before we left three years ago," he boasted. "It's where his arm came from!"

"I did wonder about that, too," Kizuna added, stepping into the room more and looking curiously at the crates littered around her. "I suppose it was the only thing in here small enough to carry. Not that it was working at that point." She turned her attention to the van, noticing a piece of paper tucked under a windshield wiper, so she stepped forward to retrieve it.

"Don't ask me about why the van's here instead of in the larger garage," Kirb spoke up as he watched Kizuna making a beeline for the van. "I think the scientists only ever used it to transport their bigger stuff around."

Lifting the windshield wiper, Kizuna unfolded the paper and read aloud:

"To Whom It May Concern,

"Sometimes, when all else fails, a

"suicide mission seems the only way, but

"even one more life lost is too many. We

"hope this helps either way and that we

"may one day meet in person.

"Signed, A Concerned Ally"

Kirb shivered. "Creepy."

"Not _just_ creepy," Kizuna replied, running her eyes over the printed words in the hope the strange message would reveal its secrets. Failing to find anything immediately, she held it up towards Kirb. "Was this here when Zetto was last in here?"

"Um..." Kirb rubbed his chin in thought for several moments, staring at the ground. "I... honestly don't know," he eventually replied, looking back up at Kizuna. "I didn't- _he_ didn't take much notice of the van at all."

Kizuna went back to staring at the strange message. It seemed highly unlikely the scientists and mages of the lab had left it for each other, given the last line about 'meeting one day in person', not to mention that whoever wrote it didn't name the person or persons it was intended for, let alone themselves. The 'one more life' line had struck her initially as referring to the attack on the base, until she reminded herself that others had died in the organisation's crusade before then, and that was more likely what it was referring to. Given the opening lines about suicide missions, was it perhaps a reminder to the scientists that, no matter how many died, they were not to consider taking on the virus themselves? Except _that_ theory didn't mesh with the last bit about 'hoping this helps' and 'concerned ally'. Kizuna sighed in frustration, and was forced to once again resign herself to put the conundrum aside for now, folding up the paper and stuffing it in a pocket at her waist.

While she'd been debating the odd note, Kirb had taken an interest in the van too, opening the passenger door opposite her and leaning in to examine the interior. "Hey cool, the keys are in here!" he cried, and Kizuna heard them jingling as he picked them up off a seat. "And another note!" he added, climbing out and rounding the door to toss the keys in his friend's direction. She only barely caught them as Kirb flipped open the second note and read aloud:

"To Whom It May Concern,

"You may have noticed, this van is wired

"with as much explosives as we could fit.

"You probably also know these are the

"magically treated ones that can damage

"and harm the virus. We estimate it

"would be enough to destroy it for good.

"The problem is detonating it without

"warning the virus. We are forced to

"leave that to you to solve.

"Good luck, A Concerned Ally"

Kizuna frowned. "Who the hell is this 'Concerned Ally'?" she asked.

Kirb shrugged, holding out the note for Kizuna. "Seems like a good plan to me, though," he admitted as she took the note from his outstretched hand, and he patted the van's hood with a determined look. "Ram this baby into the virus, blow it to kingdom come."

"But how would you detonate it?" Kizuna wondered aloud, going over the second note herself. "Not to mention the problem they mention of setting it off without alerting the virus to what you're doing." She looked up at the van for a moment before giving in to curiosity and opening the driver's door. The first thing she noticed was a conspicuous red button taped next to the gear shift between the front seats, and as she leaned in, she noticed a wire sticking out that she could easily follow into the back, connected to a wall of unmarked crates just like the ones lying on the floor, stacked up to the van's roof and, from what she could see, stretching right to the back too. If it weren't for the notes and the button, she'd've thought this was just a simple van chock full of innocent supplies. It was, she had to admit, a perfect disguise with which to take down the virus once and for all.

Kirb poked his head in opposite Kizuna, leaning heavily on the other seat. "We don't have a better plan than this, right?" he asked with a hopeful looking grin. "This one will work?"

Kizuna had to think for several moments before she felt she could confidently answer, still staring at the crates behind the seats. "It... looks like it," she admitted.

Instead of cheering as she expected he would, Kirb cocked his head to one side and frowned. "You're not happy?"

"No, I'm not," she confirmed, turning to look Kirb in the eye. "Whoever this 'Concerned Ally' is that set this up was obviously better at explosives than us. We could never build a detonator or device that could adequately replace an actual person sitting in this van." She sighed, shaking her head. "Not to mention, the person who does set it off will be killed, with or without the virus. I'm not willing to take that risk, even if it does work."

There was a long pause as the two stared at each other, Kizuna in quiet contemplation while Kirb was slowly digesting her explanation to the best of his ability. Finally, his concerned frown turned to a determined glare, his hands balling into fists on the passenger seat. "I'll do it."

Kizuna blinked in surprise. "What? You can't be serious."

"I've never been _more_ serious," Kirb replied. "That _thing_ has made life a living hell for me, and for Alpha, and it did for Flashblade too, before it used me to _kill_ him, and every other person who was on this base." He lifted a hand off the seat, waving it in explanation as his anger intensified and his voice slowly rose in volume. "And if it weren't for what it did to the three of us, Flamey, GC, Nye, and even _you_ wouldn't be stuck out in the wilderness, roughing it with the same boring meals day after day and no showers or baths except when it rains, not to mention the complete lack of shelter-!" He cut himself off, shaking his head before changing the subject. "If we don't stop this thing now, it's just going to keep ruining lives, if it doesn't manage to  _take_ them first, and I can't just sit aside and let that happen anymore!"

Getting over her shock at the unexpected outburst, Kizuna scoffed at her friend. "You're being overemotional."

"Of _course_ I'm being overemotional!" Kirb shouted back with no small amount of frustration. "Emotions are all I can do! If you want a _logical_ argument, go talk to Zetto!" With that, he pulled himself away from the van, slamming shut the door and storming off out of the lab. "I'm sure he'll agree with me!"

Kizuna didn't move, staying stood at the driver side of the van as she listened to Kirb stomping off down the hall. After a few moments, she closed her eyes and sighed, leaning against the van. "You just don't get it," she whispered to herself. "That's not the only..."

 

* * *

 

_FB card used - PT Plaza_

_var. food places - lunch?_

_also bus tickets_

_more info coming_


	26. New Home

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Second in command of the Five Founders of the Terrain of Magical Expertise, Execk is the COO of Netking Labs. He was born and raised in the Batwing Conglomerate, excelling in maths and in magic. He won a scholarship to the University of Echo Point, and completed two majors there in Business and Magiscience. It was then he began to take an interest in the Ancient Cursed Lands, but, unable to pursue anything on his own, he instead began touring other universities as a guest speaker. It was in doing this that he met Webmaster, and the two hit it off right away, feeding each other's passion for their new-found project. It was because of Execk's keen business sense that the two were able to locate and hire the fantastic magiscientists that compose the rest of the Netking team._

**Ooh, I didn't know you went to UEP! :D -K**

**I haven't mentioned that before? It's a beautiful campus if you've never been. -E**

**Execk has such an ego he just eats up whatever Webby writes down lol -R**

**Keep that up and I won't write one on you at all. -W**

 

* * *

 

Zetto led Alpha, Flamey, Nylocke and GC down alongside the docks, through the heart of the warehouse district. As it was nearing the end of the working day, most of the businesses they passed were beginning to put things away, piling the shipping containers away in the warehouses and driving the cranes and other heavy equipment off to their garages. None took any notice of the five backpackers passing by, allowing them to keep unnoticed. The further they walked, the less activity there was, and eventually they passed the last lot of active workers and reached the very end of the docks.

Flamey looked out over the artificial bay, seeing the lighthouse at the entrance to the canal flickering as its light turned on. "It's very quiet here," she said, "and kinda pretty, too."

"Yeah," Alpha agreed with a nod. "Well, if you ignore the warehouses. And some of the ships."

"Most of those cranes are rather unsightly as well!" Nye added with a smile.

"Shut up," Flamey laughed.

Just beyond the end of the docks was the last warehouse of the long line, fenced off as all the others were. Unlike them, this one appeared to have been gathering dust for several years now, the wire mesh gate at the front chained and locked closed multiple times. Also unlike it's neighbours, it seemed to lack a dedicated dock of any kind.

"This is the hideout, I presume," GC stated.

"Yes," Zetto replied with a nod, pausing at the gate and staring at the warehouse within. "Give me a moment. It's been a while."

Alpha stepped forward and rattled the gate with both hands, making it clear the gate wouldn't be opening for them. "Definitely locked."

Flamey looked up and down the padlocked chains critically. "Yeah, doesn't look like we're getting in. Are you sure this is the right place?"

Instead of answering, Zetto suddenly turned and began to follow the fence beyond the road, where it became forest. He kept one hand on the wire mesh, quickly reaching the corner and following it around. The other four looked at each other in mild confusion before deciding to follow, picking their way through the undergrowth as they attempted to catch up with Zetto's lead. They walked a fair distance along the fence, going out of sight from the road. Zetto never took his hand off the mesh, even if it necessitated crawling through some small gaps the untended trees had made between themselves and the open space inside. Finally, when they were almost at the next corner along, Zetto suddenly stopped. Alpha, who hadn't been paying attention, walked into his back with a grunt, but the blue-haired shifter took no notice, grabbing the section of fence in front of him with both hands and pulling it outward.

The section of fence flickered, and changed suddenly as the illusion spell failed. Zetto had opened a small doorway, neither chained nor locked in any way, and he stepped through it onto the concrete floor beyond. "In here," he said.

Alpha, Flamey, Nye and GC followed in single file. GC paused to close the gate behind him, and the illusion spell flickered back to life, once again generating the illusion of the unbroken fence. The group of five headed to a doorway in the side of the warehouse and disappeared inside, leaving no trace of their presence behind them.

 

* * *

 

When Kizuna decided to go looking for Kirb, she found him (via trial and error, as he wasn't responding to her calls) in the room at the very end of the Vault's lone corridor. This room, to her surprise, appeared to be Flash's bedroom, sparsely decorated with a neatly-made bed, some wooden drawers, a small bedside table and a single chair, in which Kirb was sat, his katana lying across his knees and his head in his hands, elbows propped up on the armrests. His head twitched as she opened the door, but he made no more movement to acknowledge his friend. After a pause, Kizuna slowly made her way into the room and crouched next to the chair, feeling it would be wrong to sit on the bed.

To her surprise, Kirb was the first to speak, not moving from his position. "I really miss him."

Kizuna nodded, staring at a specific spot on the bed opposite. "I know."

"He didn't deserve to die the way he did."

"No, he didn't." Kizuna sighed. "Kirb, I'm sorry about before. I just..." She squeezed her eyes shut, sighing again in frustration at herself. "I got mad and said something I regret now. You're right, Zetto will agree with you, and I know exactly the logical argument he'd have for me. So, I thought I'd just give you my emotional argument and we could decide this here and now."

Kirb slowly lowered his hands, looking down at Kizuna beside him.

"Coming back to the base and finding it in ruins was the absolute worst moment of my life. When you said you'd be prepared to die just like everyone else did, I remembered how it felt when I looked up at that ruined wall and couldn't see even a trace of that sentry tower, and I knew I didn't want to go through that terror and shame again." She paused only to take a deep breath. "I couldn't lose you like I lost everyone else, knowing I hadn't even been there to help them, to potentially _save_ some of them. While I was out having a good time, my colleagues, my _friends_ , were suffering and dying, and for a few terrifying minutes I thought you were one of them." She stopped there, head hanging low, and forcing herself not to lose control. Stubbornly refusing to move her hands to dab at her eyes, she concentrated on slowing her breathing instead.

"You didn't need to be ashamed about that," Kirb said. "If you'd been at the base, the virus would've just killed you too."

Kizuna nodded. "I know that," she whispered. "That doesn't stop me from feeling like I could have made a difference."

Kirb didn't have a response to that, so he just sat in silence, staring at the katana on his knees.

"It's a selfish reason," Kizuna admitted once she felt calmer, "but it's the only one I have."

"It's a good reason," Kirb replied with a smile. "Mine's a bit selfish too, in places."

Kizuna laughed, looking up at Kirb. "Still. There was no way I was ever going to win this argument, was there?"

Kirb just smiled sadly back at her.

 

* * *

 

Although there had been no movement on the screen since the black van drove off down the hallway five minutes ago, five pairs of eyes were still staring at the video feed on the computer monitor when it finally turned itself off.

**No movement detected in 5min 2sec. Force reactivation?**

The blond batwing sat front and centre sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "They're gone," he said. "And I don't think they'll be returning again."

In a second chair next to the batwing sat a human with long yellow hair, and she slowly got up before suddenly squealing and bouncing to a regal-looking wengal stood behind the batwing. "This is so exciting!" she cried. "I can't believe they finally came back!"

"Calm down," the wengal said, gripping his friend's shoulders and holding her still. "We don't need you hyperventilating again."

A short, mushroom-shaped shifter stood on the other side of the batwing scoffed. "Yeah, if that's even _them_. We don't know for sure."

The last of the group, a purple-pink robot with a full wig of blue spiked hair on his head, laughed. "Who _else_ is it, then? They got into the locked up corridor, I don't think we can doubt who they are!"

"Even so, we'd best double-check to make sure," the batwing agreed, spinning around in his chair to face the wengal behind him. "Do we have a plan, Webmaster?"

Webmaster leaned back against the wall, arms crossed and spotted wings rustling in thought. "I have the beginnings of one." He looked up, focussing first on the robot. "Rubi, analyse the footage. Find out everything you can about them and what they're doing there. Read their lips if you can."

Rubi nodded, giving him a mock salute. "You got it, boss."

Next, the wengal turned to the batwing. "Execk, you're on the card information. You know the drill."

Execk simply grinned.

Webmaster looked up to the blonde woman. "Kindar, dig out the files. Confirm who they are, then help Rubi."

"You betcha!" Kindar giggled, shooting a wink at Rubi as he rolled his eyes with a tired smile.

The mushroom shifter sighed loudly. "So what about me?"

"Write up a report for the police," Webmaster ordered. "If the worst happens, I want law enforcement prepared on what to do. I'm trusting you on this, Bits."

Bitshrum blinked in surprise, then nodded. "I'm on it."

"What about you, Webby?" Rubi asked.

Webmaster laughed to himself. "Well, I'll just do what I do best: researching."

Kindar giggled as she head out of the room. "Yep, that's very you, Mister I'm-writing-an-encyclopaedia-for-fun..."

"Hey!" Bits objected as he followed after her. "It's _my_ job to mock Webby's encyclopaedia!"

"With any luck," Webmaster said as he turned to Execk, "we may, finally, have our answers soon." Execk nodded in agreement.


	27. Settling In

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_CFO of Netking Labs, Kindarspirit is a member of the Five Founders of the Terrain of Magical Expertise. She was highly travelled as a child, living in both South Delta and Greater Floodlands and visiting many of their neighbouring countries on various holidays. In school, she most loved maths and science, becoming a competent mechanic in her free time and taking up programming as an additional hobby. She took a year's break between school and tertiary education, using the time to begin a small business designing and building drone robots for use in dangerous jobs. It was this that caught the attention of Execk and Webmaster, who hired her and, as their first act as employers, sent her to Gearton University to study Magiscience. Kindarspirit would later credit this as the point she discovered her true passion in life._

**You know it! :3 -K**

**i thought you said you 'fell' into the drone robotics thing? -B**

**I did. :) Webby just decided to use different phrasing. Even so, if I hadn't, I wouldn't be here, would I? :D -K**

 

* * *

 

The old warehouse was, to the group's surprise, maybe a quarter-full of old, empty crates and shipping containers, laid out around the large space in a sort of small maze.

"That's... odd," Flamey commented.

"I agree," Zetto replied. "Don't ask me where they came from or why, because I have no idea."

They set up their mock campsite within sight of the door they came in through, close to the centre of the open space under the decaying steel roof, a ring of sleeping bags (and one small tub) circling an electric lantern sat in the place of their usual fire. To pass the time, Nye had suggested looking around, with only Zetto deciding to remain behind at the makeshift campsite, to await the return of the final two members of their party.

Leaving their van parked and locked up outside the warehouse, the place Kizuna judged to be the least likely to be reported to police, she and Kirb found their way around the fence and to the hidden gate. Zetto looked up as they entered the warehouse, and watched them until they were within talking distance.

"Were there any guards as you predicted?" the blue-haired cyborg asked.

Too tired to realise Zetto would learn the answer anyway once Kirb reached him, Kizuna shook her head, dumping her backpack in a free space in the ring of sleeping bags. "No."

Kirb passed the lantern and dropped his bag by Zetto's. Zetto held out his right hand and Kirb grasped it, but only momentarily, breaking the skin contact to lie down on their shared green sleeping bag, his backpack acting as a pillow. "At least the others had fun today," he mumbled to himself.

Kizuna, who had crouched by her backpack and was pulling out her sleeping bag, looked up at Zetto. "I suppose you agree with Kirb's decision, Zetto?" she quietly asked.

Zetto nodded. "I see no reason not to."

"Of course you do," Kizuna sighed as she returned to her work.

A shout echoed from somewhere, followed by loud scuffling sounds that slowly got closer.

"Nye," Kirb groaned, and pulled himself up into a sitting position. "Of course they noticed we were back so quickly."

A minute later, Nylocke came barrelling back into the makeshift campsite, followed at a short distance by Alpha. "SQUIRE!" he cried, and dashed for Kirb, who had just enough time to stand up before being dragged off the ground and into one of Nye's bearhugs.

"Hey!" Kirb objected. "Can't breathe, Nye!" When Alpha proceeded to laugh and joined in the hug without a word, Kirb added "YOU'RE NOT HELPING, ALPHA!"

Following their friends at a more sedate pace, Flamey and GC arrived in the lantern-light. While Flamey chuckled at Kirb's dilemma, GC circled the area to reach his tub, sitting down next to it. Flamey followed to sit on her sleeping bag, which was next to where Kizuna had laid out hers.

"How was your day?" Flamey asked the shifter woman.

Kizuna shrugged. "I guess after three years the authorities don't care about it anymore, but..." She sighed. "It's a bit hard to process that my old home's just a ruin now."

Flamey put on a sad look in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Kizuna replied with a smile.

Meanwhile, Nye had finally lowered Kirb back to the ground, releasing him from the hug. "It may have only been a day," he proclaimed, "but we missed your presence dearly, Squire!"

Kirb rolled his eyes. "Yeah," he muttered, moving to sit back down. "About that, this Hyprelinx you met today seems nice."

Kizuna looked up in surprise. "Who?"

"Oh yeah," Flamey cried as Alpha went to sit down, "we gotta tell you about her!"

"She's just a little girl that got lost in the city today," Alpha explained.

Nye gasped dramatically, holding his hands to his chest. "The poor young lady!" he cried. "Lost and alone underneath Netking Parade!" He held out a fist into the air above him. "How could we not come to her aid?"

"She was meeting a friend at the docks," GC added. "Since we were heading here also, we decided to escort her."

"That was nice of you," Kizuna noted.

However, GC wasn't done. "As for you, I presume there was nothing useful at the old base, as you were hoping."

Kizuna and Kirb shared a quick glance. Forcing herself to appear nonchalant, Kizuna then shook her head. "N-no, we didn't. Everything was gone."

"Aw, that's sad," Flamey replied, accepting the answer without further questions and changing the topic as the conversation continued.

GC stared at Kizuna for several uncomfortable moments before finally turning away.

 

* * *

 

Early the next morning, Flamey emptied out her backpack, took an old map of Kizuna's, and headed out into the city. Insisting he was capable of controlling himself should the worst happen, Alpha insisted on joining her. They'd begun to run low on supplies, so once the PIN of Flashblade's old card had been entrusted to the pair, they headed out to the nearest supermarket, just beyond the docks.

"Boo Super?" Alpha read aloud as they approached the building. "That's a weird name..."

"I'm sure it's not to the guy it's named after," Flamey retorted with a smile. "They dropped the 'market' when I was a kid!"

Alpha had to think a moment to put together the original name, at which point he laughed. "Oh, I see!"

The two fetched a trolley from the outside return bays and approached the automatic doors. Just as they were opening, a voice from behind called them to a halt.

"Is that you, Flamey?"

Flamey paused and turned around, Alpha quick to follow with a curious gaze. Flamey gasped. " _Neomutant?_ "

 

* * *

 

**Users/WEBMASTER/Downloads/RUBI_FootageNotes_INITIAL.rtf**

 

_The Infiltrators:_

_ONE KIZITI SHIFTER, presumed FEMALE. TWO forms known: Resemblance of domestic cat, dark-furred; Tall humanoid with long ears (I think?) on top of head. Wields gun. Appeared to be leading infiltration. Seems unfamiliar with the locked hallway bar the office. Acts suspicious of everything, indicating knowledge that the location of the base is known to others (you could say she was 'feline' wary, eh?)._

_ONE SHIFTER, presumed MALE. May also be Kiziti. If so, ONE form known: Short humanoid with flat face, mitten-like hands. Seems to be wearing rags (ugly-ass ones too, though they might look better in colour). Wields katana with scratched sheath, almost certainly the one formerly belonging to Flashblade. Opened the locked hallway, indicating high status in DBUG ORG. Appears highly knowledgeable of what was in there, too. Acts wary on his colleague's lead initially, then becomes mostly carefree until the argument. After this, he is very subdued._

_Confirmation of identities remains unknown until I can consult with Kindarspirit, although it seems highly likely we'll get at least one positive match._

 

_Infiltration Summary:_

_Entrance to hallway was picked up by motion sensors at 12:24pm. Infiltrators examined every room they passed, excepting only the dining area (I guess they weren't hungry!). They paused for a conversation at the end of the entrance hallway and continued into the locked hallway. They entered the office, where further conversation ensued as the lab key was retrieved, and they moved to the lab. The van was examined, the pair appeared to argue. They separated and were outside of camera range in the bedroom for about five minutes or so (although this sounds very suggestive, I'm positive they did little more than talk. Unfortunately!). When they exited, they returned to the van and drove it outside the massive door, which they locked again behind them, and then continued out of the base._

_Conversation-wise, nothing of value was picked up from what was visible. The Kiziti's cat form is entirely unreadable due to her dark fur, and most of their conversations are obscured by one or both of them facing away from the camera. (If you're really that interested, I've got the second file attached to the email - everything's in that.)_

_The most interesting bit of 'conversation' is in the locked hallway. Although the Kiziti's mouth is visible as she calls what is currently presumed to be the Shifter's name, I am unable to decipher said name until I have convened with Kindarspirit and (hopefully) identified the infiltrators. All I can see is that it appears to be one syllable long (maybe possibly two), ending with a 'buh' sound (unless the name does end up two syllables long) and beginning with a hard 'c' or 'k'. ("Cob" or "Cub" is honestly my best guess right now. Followed by "Cab", "Carb" and "Curb". And that's discounting the possible second syllable.)_

_(Seriously Webby we should have installed microphones too this is ridiculous)_

_(I promise I'll clean this thing up for the archives, by the way. Honest.)_


	28. Unwanted Admirer

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Boo Super was founded forty-three years ago, as Boo's Grocery then Boo's Supermarket, in the Batwing Conglomerate. It was renamed Boo Super on it's thirtieth anniversary, and currently extends across the Batwing Conglomerate, Dracomire, Greater Floodlands and even TOME, just to name a few. In its home country, it is best known for its intense rivalry with High Market, and together the two account for eighty percent of the supermarket market in the Batwing Conglomerate._

**I worked for Boo's when I was a lad. They fired me once I got too old for their cheap asses. -E**

**If you hate them, why'd you let them into Tome? -R**

**I don't let personal matters get in the way of business. -E**

**He had nothing to do with that, anyway. xD That was all me! :D -K**

 

* * *

 

Stood not far behind them on the pavement, holding only a semi-full shopping bag, was a male batwing about Flamey's age, small leather wings held proudly behind a red suit. On top of his black hair was a two-toned mask, which he removed completely as he grinned widely at Flamey, arms out wide. "It has been ages since I last saw you!" he said through a heavy accent. "What are you doing in Tome, my delicate flower?"

Flamey nervously laughed, tugging slightly at her hair. "Uh, not much!" she replied, then turned to Alpha. "Neo and I used to go to the same school," she explained.

Alpha nodded, unable to shake the feeling he needed to be wary of the newcomer. "Alright." Neo reminded him very heavily of a group of batwings he'd met shortly before arriving in Tome, the unfortunate first impression that had almost prevented his friendship with Flamey.

"And who is your friend?" Neo laughed. "Please, introduce me!"

"Oh, um," Flamey replied, holding a hand towards the wengal. "This is Alpha. He's..." She paused, glancing back and forth between the two before finishing with, "a friend."

Neo nodded. "Of course, of course!" He held up one hand in a wave. "Well, I see you are busy, so I will see you later, pet!"

Flamey waved back, calling, "Bye!" as the other batwing turned and left, waving with the mask in his hand before he put it back on. Flamey was quick to hurry Alpha into the store, sighing as Neo got out of sight.

Alpha let out a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding. "I don't like him," he admitted.

"Yeah," Flamey laughed in agreement. "He can be kinda- well, _full on_ creepy sometimes. Had a crush on me in high school. Tagged along behind me like a dog everywhere I went." She grimaced. "It sounds cute when I put it like that, but it was real annoying."

Alpha nodded. "I can see that," he replied.

"Let's just forget about him," Flamey suggested with a smile. "We have a job to do, after all. We won't be running into him again today."

 

* * *

 

"Hello again, my Flame girl!"

"Oh _f**k me_."

As Alpha and Flamey left the supermarket, an armful of food and other general supplies in Flamey's backpack, they came face to mask with Neomutant, who was now bag-less and apparently waiting for them at the exit door. Alpha leapt behind Flamey with a surprised squeak, while Neo lifted his mask and grinned widely. "You were not expecting to see me again so soon, yes?"

Flamey sighed. "Look, Neo, I was being polite before, but the absolute last thing I want right now is a repeat of high school, okay?" Neo looked confused, but as he opened his mouth to speak, Flamey cut him off. "Leave me alone or I will call the police. Is that clear?"

Neo frowned. "I do not see why you think-"

" _Is that clear?_ " Flamey repeated.

There was a long pause, during which Neo looked steadily between Flamey and the cowering Alpha behind her. "Crystal," Neo finally growled, then he pulled his mask back over his face. "I was just saying, I would not try to seek your affections again after you spurned me before."

" _Go. Away._ "

Behind Flamey, Alpha started to edge outwards, returning to her side.

"I am just saying!" Neo insisted.

"And I don't want to hear it!" Flamey said. "Obviously you weren't actually listening to me before, because you're still here bugging me!"

Neo rolled his eyes. "I want to make sure we are both fully understood here!"

"You clearly don't," Alpha cut in with a frown.

Flamey held up a hand. "Please stay out of this, Alpha," she instructed, recognising the warning tone in his voice. "I can handle it."

Neo scoffed. "Your little boyfriend wants a fight. I say let him if he is so eager." He held out his arms in an invitation to Alpha. "You want to take me on, angel-wings? _Be my guest._ "

In a flash, Demon was on Neomutant, throwing him backwards to the paved ground. To his credit, Neo responded fast, flipping over to throw Demon off again before his sharp claws could do any further damage beyond scratching the mask.

"Alpha, no!" Flamey cried, running forward towards Demon, but he leaped away from her, coming at Neo from another direction. The male batwing threw up his hands, conjuring an electric shield that stopped Demon dead in his tracks with a pained scream.

The fight had not gone unnoticed by the innocent shoppers around them. What had started as a mere avoidance rapidly became an all-out panic, passers-by running screaming for their cars, down the road, or even back into the supermarket. Inside, a cashier was talking into her register's phone as she stared out the glass doors at the battle outside, ignoring the mayhem of the panicked crowd surrounding her. Flamey registered all of this very quickly and made a second grab for Demon, who, although recovering from Neo's shield, still managed to jump away with a growl.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Neo shouted at the feral wengal.

"What's wrong with _you?_ " Flamey shot back in Alpha's defence before returning her attention to Demon. "Alpha, calm down!" _'Now I wish I'd asked Kizuna to come with us,'_ she thought to herself wryly.

Demon only ignored Flamey, refocusing his attack on Neo even as the batwing landed lightning bolt after lightning bolt on his opponent. Flamey also began to shoot out fireballs of her own, but Demon only dodged or shrugged off the smaller and slower-moving projectiles, paying only enough attention to Flamey to keep out of her way as he mercilessly threw himself at Neo time and time again.

Sirens sounded in the distance, attracting the trio's attention. Neo scoffed, turning to Demon. "Looks like your little assault here is going to cost you dearly, monster."

Flamey also turned to face the fearful wengal staring off into the distance. "Alpha, run!" she shouted. Demon didn't stop to think about it, immediately launching himself into the air with a flap of his black wings and landing on the roof of the supermarket nearby, disappearing off in the opposite direction of the sirens.

Neo now faced Flamey accusingly. "What are you doing!?" he cried. "He attacked me, and you are helping him get away!"

"You don't understand!" Flamey cried. "You _can't_ understand!" She sighed. "I'm sorry, Neo." She picked a direction that would take her away from both Neomutant and the approaching police, and ran.

"I will tell them your names!" Neo shouted as Flamey disappeared into the distance. "They will find you, Flamey! _He will face justice no matter what you do!_ "

 

* * *

 

It had taken Flamey several minutes to find a building with a fire-ladder she could access, albeit only with a jump and some well-timed wing flaps (it was harder with the heavy bag on her back, but she refused to leave it behind and lose everything in it). Once she had access to the roof, it took some terrifying parkour to jump between buildings and eventually locate Alpha, having transformed back on his own, sitting somewhere hidden from below, his face buried in his hands.

Focusing on Alpha so she wouldn't look down, Flamey made the final jump to the building he was on, using her wings to soften the landing. "Alpha?" she asked quietly.

Alpha's head jerked up in surprise and fear, but he calmed down when he saw who it was. "I really messed up," he sighed, crossing his arms.

Flamey stepped forward and sat down next to him, hugging him with one arm. "It's okay," she said. "Neo deserved it anyway. Probably."

"Heh," Alpha laughed, but shook his head as the smile quickly faded. "He was right, though. He knows our names, and all those people saw us even if he doesn't tell. It's Lavendera all over again."

"I..." Flamey began to retort, but her words trailed off. She had no idea what the right thing to say was right now, so she decided staying silent was the best idea and simply leaned on Alpha to offer him support. "When you're ready," she offered, "we'll go back to the others. They'll know what to do."

Alpha only nodded in agreement.

 

* * *

 

The largest room in the office was the central meeting room, connecting the ring of five individual offices and dominated by the large table in its centre, capable of sitting over a dozen people. In one corner, a purple robot with a crystal sheen and a blonde human in a white robe pored over two files' worth of paper. Not far away, a tall wengal with white wings covered in black spots had surrounded himself with multiple large books and a laptop, paging through articles both physically and digitally as he compared facts and figures.

One of the office doors slammed open, revealing a short mushroom-like shifter with large, red-green eyes. "Guys!" he cried, attracting everyone's attention, then paused in confusion as he looked over who was present. "Where's Execk?"

"Where do you think?" Rubi scoffed, gesturing to the only office door that was currently closed.

"What's the matter?" Webmaster asked, more diplomatically.

Bitshrum sighed. "I'll tell him later, then!" he dramatically announced, dashing out of his office doorway and jumping on a chair. "I just got a call from our Police Chief, about a weird incident that happened today!"

"Ooh!" Kindar interrupted, her hands clasped under her chin. "Is it about the cute little shifter with the dark hair and the rags?"

Rubi rolled his eyes while Bits gave the woman a very confused look. "She's got a crush, I swear," he explained.

"Let me dream, Rubi," Kindar gently responded.

"No it's not," Bitshrum rapidly shot in Kindar's direction, before turning to Webmaster with wide eyes. "There was a report of a fight outside a Boo Super, and apparently one of the guys involved suddenly got all dark-coloured and was acting wild! When the police starting getting close, he flew up to the roof and disappeared!"

The other three all glanced between each other. "That certainly sounds like the old Curse," Webmaster confirmed. "Do you have any more details?"

"Unfortunately not," Bits replied, shaking his head. "The police are still gathering them themselves, but since it was so similar to the info I gave 'em, they called me up with the initials."

Webmaster smiled. "Yes, I read that report of yours. You did very well on it, by the way."

Bits couldn't help but immediately preen. "Why, thank you!"

"Will you get down off that chair now?" Kindar asked.

"Of course not," Rubi giggled, leaning conspiratorially towards Kindar. "He's the Chair King, remember?"

The shifter glared, jumping off the chair. "That was _one time_ , Rubi!"


	29. Night Off

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_In southern Mechcity is the famous Mechcity Stadium, the largest in TOME and the hub of all major sports activities in this young nation. Over the years, it has hosted a variety of competitions and matches, including the annual brawling tournaments every summer. It also calls itself home to many amateur sporting associations, opening itself up most every evening to anything from semi-professional soccer training to childrens' brawling meet-ups. These events are open for anyone to attend, and it isn't unusual for some to show up merely to watch._

**You never heard of 'spectator sport', Webby? LOL -R**

**now that was one amazingly bad pun -B**

 

* * *

 

The group were silent when Alpha and Flamey finished explaining what had happened on their disastrous shopping trip. They sat around the small fire Kizuna had set up to cook their meals over, thinking over the pair's story.

"Oh dear," Nye finally muttered.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Kizuna wryly added, frowning into the fire.

GC thought for a moment. "We couldn't have predicted what happened today," he pointed out to the distressed Alpha and Flamey. "Don't blame yourselves."

"Yeah," Flamey agreed with a sigh, although she still looked downtrodden. "I know we couldn't have. I just think... like, I could have handled him better, or something."

Alpha said nothing, staring into his own lap morosely.

Sitting beside each other on their shared sleeping bag, Kirb and Zetto glanced at each other. Sitting further back than most of their friends, they were taking the opportunity to subtly hold hands and share their limited mental faculties. A plan came to their shared mind almost immediately, and they both smiled before Kirb jumped to his feet, breaking contact (and Zetto's smile) instantly. "Hey, guys!" the short shifter cried. "You know what we need right now?"

Kizuna raised an eyebrow. "A miracle?"

"Ye- _No_ , c'mon!" Kirb objected, upset to not get the answer he wanted. "We need a _pick-me-up!_ "

The rest of the group looked between each other in mild confusion. " _Flight!?_ " Nye asked incredulously.

Kirb rolled his eyes and ignored Nylocke's perplexed question. "It's Thursday, right?"

GC nodded. "Yes, it is."

Grinning, Kirb explained, "Well, on Thursdays they have a brawling meet-up at the stadium in the evening!" He winked at Alpha and Flamey. "You two were wanting to see it the other day, after all!"

The pair only winced. "It's a nice idea, Kirb," Flamey said, "but we might be recognised if we just go out like that."

"What do you think _glamour spells_ are for?" Kirb pointed out in a 'well duh' tone. "Change a colour or two, and no-one'll recognise you!"

"You have this plan very well thought out," Kizuna muttered with narrowed eyes.

"Thank you," Zetto replied, then turned to Alpha and Flamey. "Glamour spells aren't my forte, but I believe I can adequately disguise you for a night out."

GC then spoke up, eyes smiling. "I have a better idea," he said.

 

* * *

 

"Well. This isn't quite how I imagined tonight would look," Kirb admitted as the group sat down in the stadium's risers.

Surprisingly, GC turned out to be quite adept with glamour spells, disguising Alpha's feathers the same red as his hair, and Flamey's hair the same black as her wings. Although the pair were still nervous about being recognised, they agreed to go, and thus all seven travellers left the warehouse late that afternoon, spirits already lifted, and caught a bus into the city.

The only hitch in their plan was, while Thursdays _were_ a brawling day, they were actually specifically focussed on young children only.

Thus, the seven found themselves sitting in the stadium's audience, watching the children pair up in heavily supervised brawls, their parents or guardians acting as partners and referees while an aging human coach circled around, giving tips as he went.

"This is actually fine," Alpha said with a smile. "We're even less likely to be recognised if we don't interact with anybody."

"Yeah," Flamey agreed with a nod. "I'm happy just watching tonight."

Nye giggled to himself. "They are so adorable!" he added. "Little hatchlings finding their way in the art of brawling! And so eager about it, too!"

Kizuna rolled her eyes, but couldn't resist a smile. "As long as someone here's happy."

GC silently nodded an agreement.

Zetto, sat at the front of the group with Kirb, pointed to a young human boy in orange, wielding a toy bow-and-arrow. "That kid's not won a single fight," he said.

"Aw, poor thing," Flamey replied, looking over at the boy sympathetically. "He must be heart broken!"

Kirb frowned. "No wonder, he's using that bow all wrong!" he cried, then moved to get up, only for Zetto to grab his arm and hold him in place.

"It would be unwise to draw attention to ourselves," Zetto said. "We stay here."

"But-!"

"No," Zetto interrupted Kirb's protests, and the smaller shifter humphed to himself as he reluctantly sat back down in his seat.

Nylocke smiled cheekily. "Some things never change!"

"Hey, check out those two!" Alpha said as he pointed to a pair of human children, a red-headed girl in pink and a blonde boy in green, who were taking a break from brawling and playfully whacking each other with their discarded safety gear. "They're having fun!"

Kizuna chuckled. "I wouldn't be surprised if those two leave early. They're wasting all their energy playing around like that."

"They're kids," Flamey pointed out. "Let them have fun."

Kirb frowned at Zetto. "Can you let go of my arm now?"

Zetto shook his head. "No."

"Darn."

 

* * *

 

It was well and truly dark by the time the last person in the brawling meet-up, the angry-looking coach, left the stadium, shooing out the seven travellers in front of him. "If you think you teenage delinquents are robbing the stadium on my watch you've got another thing coming!"

"Do we _look_ like teenagers?" Kizuna grumbled as the man locked up the stadium gates.

"Just ignore him," Flamey said. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves, remember?"

The seven fell into silence as they headed over to the nearby bus stop, hoping to catch the last one back to the docks. "Y'know," Alpha spoke up, "I had fun tonight. Even though we didn't technically do anything, it was nice to have something else to think about for a while."

"I agree, Sir Alpha!" Nye replied, holding a fist in the air. "Although this morning we suffered a setback, we have ended this day on a victory!"

"How?" Zetto asked.

Kirb shook his head with a smile. "Just let him have it."

It would take half an hour to return to the docks, so once the bus arrived, the seven all settled in for a long ride back to their temporary home. GC offered to look out for their stop, and everyone else either curled up for a nap or chatted softly with their neighbour.

Twenty-five minutes later, the quiet was broken by a loud explosion. The bus screeched to a halt, swerving to one side, and the red slime driver swore loudly as she opened the side doors. " _Everyone out!_ " she shrieked, leaping from her seat. It took only a few seconds for the seven friends to follow, and they looked up in a mixture of shock and fear at the source of the explosion in front of them. Hovering above them in the air was the familiar blackish-grey cloud, below it the remains of the asphalt it had smashed through as it burst out of the ground.

"Fiend!" cried Nylocke, pulling out his sword-handle and forming the ice-blade. "You finally show your disgusting excuse for a face!"

Alpha shook his head to calm himself, fighting down the anger at seeing the virus, just as he'd been finally learning to do before their arrival in Mechcity.

"Well, this throws _my_ plans out the window," Kizuna muttered to herself, patting the empty spot on her belt where she usually carried her gun.

GC hold forward his arm as it morphed into a blade, glaring up at the virus. Flamey readied a pair of fireballs, standing her ground. Zetto placed his hand on his mechanical arm. Kirb made a run for it.

"Kirb, what the hell!?" Flamey cried.

The virus lunged at the small shifter as he passed, throwing him sideways into a pole on the side of the road. Kirb fell to the concrete ground, hugging his side in pain.

"Idiot," Zetto muttered to himself.

Kizuna sighed. "Let's go!" she announced, then leapt forward, shifting into Tigerlilly and pouncing on the virus claws-first. Nye, GC and Flamey followed, while Alpha and Zetto raced to Kirb's side instead. While Alpha helped Kirb sit up, Zetto reached out to grab Kirb's hand with his, only to almost instantly recoil, face flashing a pained expression from the brief psychic connection.

"Are you okay?" Alpha asked, not sure if he should be directing his question at both of them or not.

Kirb and Zetto shared a glance. "I'm fine," Kirb answered grimly. Zetto nodded once, then got up and ran down the street, past the virus.

Alpha frowned in confusion. "Where's he going?"

"Heh," Kirb muttered through a tight smile, trying to stand despite the pain in his ribs. "I can't run in my state. Has to be him."

The cryptic comment only heightened Alpha's confusion. "Huh?"

Kirb forced himself to his feet and weakly pulled at the katana on his belt. "We might need Demon, by the way. This is looking to be a tough fight tonight."

 

* * *

 

17:53:16 **EXE >** Do we have those full descriptions from the incident this morning?

17:53:20 **SPORE KING >** yeah, didnt u get em already?

17:53:22 **SPORE KING >** i emailed em 2 u

17:53:25 **SPORE KING >** we even have their names believe it or not

17:53:26 **EXE >** Hang on, I'll check.

17:53:29 **SPORE KING >** lemme kno if you need help

17:53:45 **EXE >** I've found them, thank you.

17:53:49 **EXE >** You may be pleased to hear they seem to match the scant footage we have from the Plaza

17:53:51 **EXE >** Although I can't be sure of course

17:53:51 **SPORE KING >** footage from wat now?

17:53:59 **rubirules >** Oh you finally got those CCTV records?

17:54:05 **SPORE KING >** im so confused

17:54:10 **Humble Pie >** have you spoken to Kindar yet, Execk?

17:54:15 **EXE >** We're in her office now, looking at it

17:54:17 **rubirules >** Yeah I was about to ask where you were

17:54:19 **Humble Pie >** let me know when you have a verdict

17:54:22 **~Dreaming~ >** will do! :D

17:55:02 **EXE >** You might want to come check this out, Webmaster.

17:55:05 **EXE >** Something weird's going on here, with the guy we identified at the base.

17:55:10 **Humble Pie >** what about him?

17:55:14 **~Dreaming~ >** um, he's in two places at once? :?

17:55:24 **Humble Pie >** I'm on my way


	30. Final Stand

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_CIO of Netking Labs and a member of the Five Founders of the Terrain of Magical Expertise, Rubi was built by fellow Founder Kindarspirit during her stint in university after first meeting Execk and Webmaster. Kindar cited loneliness and a desire to experiment with the magic she was learning about as her reasons for building a fully sentient companion, and luckily Rubi was fully on board with helping her, and subsequently Netking Labs, out. His most prominent features are his jokester personality and his hologram-port, which he often uses to briefly take on the appearances of others. He requested to take on the role of Chief Information Officer as the company grew, claiming "Nobody's better suited to it than a robot, am I right?"._

**Well, am I right or am I right? -R**

**i just realised youre like the youngest of all of us -B**

**He acts his age, I must admit. -E**

**Very funny, Execk. -R**

 

* * *

 

Tigerlilly swiped and swatted at the virus, which danced back and forth, dodging her every blow. Flamey, running up behind, shot off a trio of fireballs, which the cloud only just avoided before being blindsided by Nye's ice sword coming from the other direction. GC then popped up behind it to strike with his armblade before disappearing back into a barely-visible purple puddle on the damaged road.

Out of the corner of one of her four eyes, Tigerlilly noticed a blue-haired shifter running down the road, away from the fight. She was quick to distract herself from the realisation of what Zetto was doing by renewing her assault on the virus, but, seeming to notice it was in a bad position, the cloud instead made a dash over her head. She scratched at it, but the hurried attack did little to dissuade the ball of sentient magic on its path down the road behind her. "Don't let it get away!" she roared, and the three fighting with her nodded in agreement as they followed her and the virus she was chasing.

Flamey paused to look back and saw Alpha helping drag the injured Kirb towards the fight, the small shifter stubbornly holding out his katana ready for battle. She also noticed with alarm that GC's glamour spell had worn off, revealing Alpha's white wings and tail, and could only assume her hair had similarly returned to its natural colour. _'We have something more important to worry about right now,'_ she reminded herself, and rejoined the chase.

Meanwhile, Alpha was doing his best to cast some healing spells on his battle-ready friend's ribs. "I still think using Demon is a bad idea after what happened this morning," he said.

Kirb weakly laughed. "This'll be the last time we fight this thing," he panted. "Gonna need all we can get."

"How can you know this will be the last time?" Alpha asked.

"Heh," Kirb said though a pained smile. "You'll see."

Alpha fought down a spark of anger at the non-answer. "If you're deliberately goading me into getting angry, it won't work," he informed his friend, pausing in their rush much as the battle ahead currently had. "Besides, you should really be sitting this out until you've recovered properly. It whacked you into that pole pretty hard."

Kirb pushed himself away from Alpha's support, rubbing his side as the healing magic reduced the discomfort considerably, although he knew the lack of pain didn't necessarily mean the injury was actually healed. "I'll be fine," he insisted, "especially after we've taken care of this thing." He glared ahead at the virus, clutching his katana all the tighter. "I refuse to sit out this fight after what it did to me, and to my friends. That includes you." With only a short glance back at his wengal friend, Kirb forced himself into an unsteady run down the road.

Alpha could only watch Kirb for several seconds. _'He kinda has a point, I guess... if this really is gonna be our last fight...'_ He glanced behind him, back where Zetto had disappeared, and wondered what this foolproof plan was that Kirb and Zetto had but hadn't shared, and why. _'I suppose I'll have to trust Kirb and wait and see.'_ Sighing to himself, Alpha rolled his eyes. "Why the hell not." _'Angry thoughts now. C'mon out, Demon.'_

 

* * *

 

Zetto's legs ached, but he refused to stop and let them rest. It was vitally important he return to the warehouse where the van of magically-treated explosives was parked, and even then his legs would be required to push pedals and drive it. He quickly devised a plan of alternately slowing down and using bursts of wind magic to keep up his speed, then letting his magic rest while his legs sped up again. It seemed to work, despite the continued aching now coupling with magical exhaustion, but it was the best he could come up with in the time he had with no available resources.

Finally, the warehouse was in sight. Opposite its locked gates was the black van. Zetto dashed up to it and leaned against the bonnet for a few moments to catch his breath, recalling Kirb's memory of where Kizuna had hidden the keys. _'Wheel well. That requires leaning down.'_ Fighting his body's desire to fall to the ground, Zetto gently knelt and reached around into the gap above the front right tire, fishing out the small keychain with some difficulty. _'Every bit of this would have been easier for Kirb to do,'_ he noted as he dragged himself into the driver's seat. _'It will take less time to return than it was getting here, at least.'_

The van roared to life.

 

* * *

 

 

It took barely five minutes for the battle to attract its first police officer, a brunette wengal with triangles tattooed on her cheeks. Flamey had to shoot fireballs at Demon to stop him from switching targets, and Kirb stepped back from the fight long enough to register that the officer was wisely keeping her distance. He decided there was nothing much he could do about her narrating into her radio, so he leapt back in the direction of the virus, swinging out his katana to slice at its side.

"Lady Tigerlilly!" Nye shouted mid-battle, "it appears to be fleeing in the direction of Netking Parade!"

"Noted!" the large cat replied, whacking the virus as it attempted to pass her again. "We're trying to push it towards the docks!"

"Well, we're not doing very well at that, are we?" Flamey pointed out, barely avoiding hitting Demon with her fireballs.

As the number of police officers around them slowly increased, more and more of the group noticed their reluctance to join in, only one or two of the officers brave enough to take potshots (either magic or technology-based) at the virus if the opportunity arose. Mostly, they kept their distance and kept the road clear. Still caught up fighting the virus, none of the small resistance had the time to worry or wonder about what their orders were, too busy literally fighting for their lives.

Thanks mostly to the sheer volume of people around it, the virus stalled at an intersection, pushed up against an office building alongside the road. The three roads leading away were blocked off by lines of police officers in riot gear, helping just enough to keep the virus from escaping in any direction. Snipers on the surrounding roofs shot at it if it tried to go up, and the cloud's attempts to smash open the road and travel through the earth below were halted by none other than Demon, who refused to let go of it even when it tried to throw him off with spikes, despite the growing injuries to his limbs. The rest of the group was beginning to tire, and their attacks grew more and more sluggish as they fought to keep the virus put on Tigerlilly's orders. Kirb was forced to sit down for a minute, the pain in his side beginning to return.

An engine roared in the distance, and the police all reacted as one, struggling to clear the middle of the three roads. Tigerlilly jumped back from the virus and turned her green eyes down the dark path, seeing only a vague silhouette and two bright headlights. "Time to roll!" she shouted, feeling re-energised as she turned and leapt on the virus, throwing off Demon and dragging him away from the virus, keeping him pinned beneath a paw. In the distance, she saw and heard the vehicle getting closer by the second. "Flamey, to me!" she ordered.

Flamey looked up in surprise. "What?" she replied.

" _Now!_ "

"Alright, alright!" Flamey shot off one more fireball at the virus, currently being distracted by Nye and GC, and she ran to Tigerlilly's side and stood by Demon. "What is it?" she asked.

The distant engine roared again, attracting the attention of everyone in the intersection. GC flattened himself down into a puddle just as the black van sped down the road the police had cleared, zooming over the slime and slamming itself into the virus before crashing into the neighbouring building, whose glass windows shattered instantly.

For a moment, there was a stunned silence, even the virus just sitting on the bonnet of the van where it had been pinned. Slowly, the striped cloud surrounded the front half of the vehicle, and Tigerlilly managed to keep herself from sighing in relief. "Get down!" she shouted.

GC, Nye and Flamey obeyed, keeping away from the virus, but Kirb instead tried to run towards it, foiled only by Nye's quick thinking as he grabbed his friend and dragged him away.

In the driver's seat of the van, Zetto looked around the cabin. The virus was seeping through every crack it could find, around the doors and windows and even through the dashboard. He reached out with his hand and gripped the red button by the gear-shift tightly. He watched the virus slowly surrounding him, waiting for the perfect moment, and recalled Kirb's fantasy of how this would go. _'It wouldn't hurt,'_ he thought to himself, and stared at the approaching wisps of blackish-grey with as many of Kirb's memories of hatred as he could recall. "Go to hell."

" _No!_ " Kirb cried, and pulled himself free of Nye's grip, running towards the van.

Zetto pushed the button.

The intersection was suddenly filled with a great light, and a rushing sound so loud it shook the very ground they stood on. The force of the explosion blew at everything, forcing it back and throwing many onlookers to the ground, shielding their eyes as the seconds seemed to stretch into minutes. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, everything returned to a quiet calm.

Tigerlilly gingerly lifted the paw that had been holding Demon down, and noticed with surprise that he had reverted to Alpha, lying unconscious on the pavement. Flamey, who had been cowering behind the large cat's bulk, looked up and gasped in concern as she ran to his side. "Alpha!"

"Squire!" Nye similarly cried behind them, and Tigerlilly turned to see the draconian running to where Kirb had been thrown in the explosion, also unconscious, his katana not far away. While Nye knelt by his friend, busy checking his pulse, GC rushed straight to the epicentre of the destruction, the remains of the van and the building behind it. He looked over the twisted wreckage for a few moments, then reached in and picked up a battered cylindrical object, silver in colour. He turned and met Tigerlilly's eyes, holding forward the metal cylinder for her to recognise.

Tigerlilly felt a wave of grief wash over her and shifted into Kizuna, kneeling on the ground on all fours. The object was the remains of a mechanical arm.

Zetto was gone.

 

* * *

 

**SEND TEXT**

RECIPIENTS: _Execk; Kindarspirit; Rubi_

MESSAGE: _"It's time."_

**SENDING...**

**TEXT SENT.**

 

**RECEIVING REPLY...**

SENDER: _Rubi_

MESSAGE: _"I've got 7:30, but my clock may be inaccurate."_

 

**RECEIVING REPLY...**

SENDER: _Execk_

MESSAGE: _"Very funny, Rubi. Location, Webmaster?"_

 

**SEND REPLY**

MESSAGE: _"Daisy Fields Hospital. Bits' contact will meet us there."_

**SENDING...**

**TEXT SENT.**


	31. Tying Up...

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_CRO of Netking Labs and the last member of the Five Founders of the Terrain of Magical Expertise, Bitshrum was born and grew up in a small town in the heart of Blitzbox Country. Desiring to travel the world, he applied to be an international student at Gearton University, studying Geology. Unfortunately, he failed most of his subjects and instead decided to switch to Magiscience, where he met Kindarspirit and Rubi. He excelled in the magic portion of the course as Kindar excelled in the science, so they helped each other while passing on everything they learned to Rubi, and became close friends. Kindar recommended him to Execk and Webmaster as a fifth member of their group, which Bits was happy to accept._

**And he regretted it ever after, LOL! -R**

**eh -B**

**Hey, you're unusually short on words Bits :) Need a hug? :P -K**

**too much sap on this page, send help -B**

 

* * *

 

There had been no handcuffs, no threats of violence from the police, only gentle hands and understanding words guiding them away from the wreck of Zetto's van. To Kizuna's surprise, ambulances had been waiting nearby, and the six survivors of the Debug Organisation were bundled into them and sped to the nearest hospital, Daisy Fields, about five or so blocks away. She wanted to cry over Zetto's loss, but while Kirb still breathed, she refused to lose hope that at least a part of him still survived, that maybe the death of the virus had miraculously re-merged him back into one person, the friend she knew three years ago.

Alpha regained consciousness in the ambulance, to Flamey's relief. He was confused over what had happened, as were his friends, but was otherwise easily healed from the injuries Demon's stubbornness had given him. Kirb was not so lucky, with a weak pulse and shallow breathing that put him in the centre of the paramedics' attentions. As they arrived at the hospital, he was quickly whisked away out of sight, while the other five were separated for brief examinations before being left in a private ward, where Alpha had been confined for monitoring overnight. Flamey, GC, and Nye (stripped of most of his armour) pulled up chairs at his bedside, but Kizuna instead stood at the window, looking out into the black night.

"I do hope the Squire will be alright," Nye muttered to himself. GC, sat next to him, rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Flamey, opposite Nye and GC on the other side of Alpha's bed, looked up at the window. "Now that we're almost all back together," she spoke up, "I have actually been wanting to ask you something, Kizuna."

The only reaction the shifter gave them was a slight turning of her head.

"I also have something I have been wondering about," GC added, moving in his seat to face Kizuna at the window. "I recall seeing that van parked outside the warehouse where we have been staying. If Zetto was driving it, then Kirb was probably trying to get to it when he was injured."

"Yeah, and Kirb refused to say what was going on!" Alpha interrupted with a glare, suddenly remembering the incident before he and Kirb had joined the fight. "Did you get that thing from the base and not say anything to us!? How could you!?"

Nye turned back to Alpha in surprise. "Sir Alpha," he said, "are you... angry?"

"Of _course_ I'm angry!" Alpha shot back. "Zetto's _dead_ because he and Kirb and Kizuna were-"

Flamey grinned widely and threw herself around Alpha, calling his righteous tirade to a halt. "Alpha, you're _not transforming!_ " she pointed out gleefully. "You're _healed!_ "

Alpha opened his mouth to ask what she was going on about, but stopped as her meaning suddenly sunk in. "Huh," he weakly concluded. "So... does this mean the virus is... actually gone?"

"It looks like it," GC replied. "I saw no trace of it in the wreckage, nor of Zetto save for his mechanical arm."

Nye sighed. "The poor Master Zetto... he gave his life to save us all!"

"Demon's gone?" Kizuna quietly asked, and the four looked up to see her staring back at them with wide eyes.

Flamey nodded with a smile. "Looks like it!"

Kizuna fell against the window behind her, one hand held out for support while the other clutched at her chest. " _Oh please!_ " she softly cried to herself.

Nylocke moved to stand up. "Lady Kizuna?"

"If Demon is gone," she explained, sounding hoarse, "then maybe Zetto isn't dead." She sniffed loudly, wiping at her face that she tried in vain to keep out of the others' sight. "Maybe _he's_ back to normal, too."

Alpha and Flamey glanced at each other in surprise. They'd seen Kizuna lose her temper, and change subjects after going mysteriously quiet, but they'd never seen her _cry_. Nye simply stood up and strode over to her side, hiding her from view of the others while offering a shoulder to lean on. Kizuna took it gratefully, but now she had started talking, she wasn't going to stop just yet.

"I'm s-sorry about this," she stuttered through her tears. "When we f-found that van, Kirb in-insisted on doing it hims-self. I tried to... talk him out of it, but he... he wouldn't listen."

"There, there," Nye said, patting his friend on the back.

Kizuna sniffed again, forcing herself back under control. "He said," she continued, "that after everything it had done to ruin our lives, he was willing to lose his if it meant a stop to all of it."

GC simply closed his eyes and nodded in understanding. Flamey sighed, gripping Alpha's hand. "Kirb and his stubbornness."

"I guess I can see why you didn't tell us before," Alpha added. "If we'd known, we'd've probably killed him ourselves!" He laughed.

There was a knock at the door. Kizuna rapidly dried her face and pushed away from Nylocke, halfway to the door by the time it was opened. In the doorway stood a tall wengal, his face encircled by a gold tattoo and his white wings spotted with black. He walked into the room and gave a friendly smile to the five stood within. "Good evening," he greeted them. "I hope you don't mind, but we wanted to talk to you tonight while the five of you are together." Behind him, four others filed into the room and closed the door behind them: a batwing in a grey suit, a purple robot with a star-shaped mask for a face, a blonde human in white, and a short mushroom-like shifter.

"My word," Nye cried. "The Five Founders of the Terrain themselves!"

"That's us!" the human chirped cheerily, hands clasped together under her chin.

The mushroom turned stern green eyes on the group. "You guys _are_ from the DeBug Organisation, right? I'd hate to have the wrong room right now."

Kizuna stepped forward. "Just me. These guys didn't know what they were doing." She held out her wrists, ready to be handcuffed.

"Kizuna, no!" Flamey cried.

"We joined up willingly!" Alpha added.

Nye shook a fist in the air. "We knew the risks and accepted them!"

" _Everyone quiet!_ " the tall wengal ordered, and the room went silent as everyone looked to him. "Thank you." He turned to Kizuna. "We aren't going to arrest any of you. After all, that would be against DeBug Code."

The robot snickered to himself. " _DeBug Code..._ still makes me laugh!"

Alpha and Flamey looked at each other in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Kizuna asked, hands lowered back to her side in confusion. "The Code? That only ever applied to..."

The batwing grinned. "What do you think?" he replied. "We _are_ the DeBug Organisation."

Kizuna, Alpha, Flamey, Nye and GC stared back at the Founders, some blankly and some just in shock. "B-but..." Kizuna muttered, "you can't be..."

"We should introduce ourselves and explain," the wengal said with a smile. "I'm Webmaster, as you may or may not know. My friends here," he gestured to the four other Founders in turn, "are Execk, Kindarspirit, Rubi and Bitshrum. We, with our friend Flashblade, originally went by the name DeBug Organisation, unofficially, before we came up with Netking Labs."

"It sounded more professional," Bitshrum explained with a shrug.

"When we founded Tome," Kindar continued, "we gave the name to Flash so he could continue our work!"

"If we'd done so ourselves," Rubi picked up with a wince, "we'd've lost funding, and any control over how Tome was going to be built, not to mention we'd probably be kicked out and, like, exiled! Flash offered to stick his neck out so we'd have the best of both worlds."

"Of course, we offered him our help whenever we could," Execk added, hands behind his back, "releasing anyone who was captured, misdirecting police, steady supply of funds, even equipment if we could spare it. He kept us up-to-date with nightly reports in return."

"When he suddenly failed to call us one night," Webmaster continued, "we knew something had gone wrong. We went to the base the next morning and found it in ruins." He sighed. "Honestly, I'd begun to lose hope that we'd ever find out the full truth as to what happened." He looked up with a relieved smile. "Then you came back. Zetto and Kizuna, our mysterious survivors. The only two of Flash's files we couldn't identify bodies for."

Kizuna gasped. "The missing files, that was you?"

"Yup!" Rubi chirped.

Bits waved a hand. "The van was us, too. I'm sure glad that worked, by the way."

"We had to take the files!" Kindar cried with a sympathetic look. "We had all these bodies to identify, and wills to enact! We thought it had killed everyone!"

Execk pointed in the general direction of Alpha's bed. "I assume you four joined up after that." He returned his hand behind his back. "We weren't able to identify _you_ guys from the files."

Flamey, Alpha and Nye shared a nervous laugh as they glanced between each other. "You are correct in your assumption," GC answered. "It's a long story."

"In that case," Webmaster said, holding out his arms, "we'll hold this off for later, when you're all back up to full health." Behind him, Kindar, Rubi and Bitshrum left the room. "We've taken the liberty of finding you somewhere more permanent to stay in the meantime, and we've sent someone to retrieve your things for you."

"That is very kind of you, Lord Webmaster!" Nye cried.

Webmaster chuckled, Execk leaving the room behind him. "Please, it's our pleasure," he insisted. He turned to follow Execk, but paused at the doorway. "By the way, the best of luck to your friend Zetto. I hope he gets well soon."

Kizuna nodded her head gratefully, trying not to wince at the choice of name. "Thank you, sir. We do too."


	32. ... Loose Ends

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

**Let me know how you like this rewrite, guys -W**

_Before the founding of TOME, the land was officially known as the Ancient Cursed Lands, and, appropriately, the ancient spell upon it was known as the Ancient Curse. It was most unique among the existing ancient magic that survives in the world, working actively to keep the Cursed Lands lifeless in every way possible: Plants withered, seeds refused to grow, and animals fled from its borders. Explorers who tried to venture into the land over the centuries all variously fled or went mad, reporting that colleagues who didn't return had gone feral, eyes glowing red and skin and hair dark. The scientific community dismissed these reports as rumours, but when Netking Labs began their work to unweave the so-called Curse, it was quickly discovered to be all too true. Although the Curse was weakened after its separation from the land, it retained its possession abilities and remained in TOME until it was finally destroyed. Only three of the Curse's victims ever survived a possession by the ancient magic, and it left individual scars on each that were only cured by their own death (in the case of TOME Founder Flashblade) or the final destruction of the Curse itself._

**Ooh, this is much better than your first draft! :D -K**

**huh, i thought you'd wanna name the other two -B**

**I think Alpha and Zetto deserve some privacy here. Besides, we shouldn't name them publicly without asking first. -E**

 

* * *

 

Alpha was released from hospital the day after the virus was destroyed, and the day after that the five friends had been summoned to the Netking Labs offices. Kizuna and Alpha did most of the talking, telling the Netkings their stories: Kizuna spoke of the nightmare it was to find the base in ruins and her best friend in two, and how she and Zetto chased the virus alone for the following two and a half years; Alpha spoke of how he had unintentionally picked up the virus one day and brought it home, and the effects it had left on him after Kirb freed him of it. The Netkings, feeling it was only fair, answered any question posed to them in return, and volunteered a story of their own, tracking and following the group after Kizuna and Kirb were picked up by their cameras in the base. It was a great relief to them to learn they hadn't been seeing things when they heard Kirb and Zetto's story from Kizuna, as seeing the same person in two places at once had been a source of great confusion to them over the past week.

It was a surprise to Alpha to be pulled back as his friends left the Founders' office, and by Webmaster no less. "You're very confident," the older wengal complimented him. "I can't imagine you were able to boast that before this whole mess with the virus, huh?"

"Uh, n-no," Alpha replied, wondering what he'd said to have made the Netking deduce such. "I guess I didn't."

"It's a shame," Webmaster continued with a sympathetic smile. "I'd say you've more than outgrown that mark by now."

Alpha started as he suddenly remembered the twin tattoos across his eyes. "O-oh," he mumbled, a hand unconsciously raised to his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to draw attention to them," Webmaster hurriedly added in concern, "but, I might be able to help get them upgraded. Would you be up for that?"

After a long moment of thought, Alpha lowered his hand from his eyes and looked up into Webmaster's face with a confident grin. "Actually, sir, with all due respect, I'll have to decline." He looked out the office door, where his friends were gathered by the lift. "I don't need anything more than a fledgling mark to prove myself to the people who really matter."

Webmaster smiled again and nodded. "I understand."

The next week, Kizuna was officially hired at Netking Labs, working directly under Kindarspirit in the financial department. She helped the Netkings prepare a press conference on the very public destruction the virus had left behind, and thus the secret of the remnants of the 'Ancient Curse' was released into the world... although they were forced to be vague on the 'how', for fear of upsetting the companies that were still keeping the young nation afloat after all these years. Kizuna comforted herself with the knowledge that those to whom it was most important, namely the Netkings and her friends, all knew the full truth, and that was all that mattered.

Sick of spending her days worrying about Kirb, Flamey suggested she, Alpha, Nye and GC take a day-trip back to Lavendera and reunite with their old friends. After all, the Netkings had cleared their records, so they were no longer in danger of being arrested there. They all agreed, although the boys were disappointed to discover everything they'd left behind in their apartment was long gone, either thrown out or sold off by their landlord when the four didn't return. Flamey also got a somewhat frosty reception at her old home, being greeted at the door by Saturndiva and a flat "You're fired". Whyti made up for everything with her enthusiasm at seeing her old roommate again, and was sure to give every one of the four a tight hug in welcome. Neither of the girls was surprised to hear Flamey announce she wasn't moving back in, Sat practically throwing Flamey's things at her as she demanded they clear the space for a replacement immediately. Nevertheless, the group returned to their temporary home in one of Mechcity's hotels that night, satisfied that there was no more danger in going back there whenever they wanted.

 

* * *

 

 

It was three weeks after the destruction of the virus by the time Kirb finally woke up. Having discussed the possibility he had re-merged with Zetto in the explosion multiple times, his friends were doubly excited to talk to him again, despite the general ban on shifting for patients. Although he was still weak and very subdued, Kirb was happy to see his friends again, and content to sit and listen as the five of them (or, rather, Alpha, Flamey and Nye) raved about everything that had happened while he'd been asleep.

"... and they said they'd been helping Flashblade out with things like equipment, and distracting police and stuff," Flamey finished explaining. "We'd been scared of them all that time and secretly they were on our side all along!"

Kirb smiled. "That old bastard. I knew there was something Flash was hiding." He leaned back on his raised bed. "That'd be where the 'bottomless' bank cards came from, then."

"You had more than one?" Nye asked curiously.

"Two," Kizuna replied. "When Kirb left, he took one, while Zetto and I held on to the other one."

Kirb shrugged. "Eh, I used it mainly to pay rent."

"Speaking of," Alpha nervously spoke up, "I'm really sorry Kirb, but they never found anything of Zetto except for his arm."

"I'm not surprised," Kirb said with a small smile, eyes closed. "I mean, he was at the centre of the explosion for one thing. If it destroyed the virus, Zetto had no chance. We already knew that."

"That's very logical of you," GC said.

"Why, thank you!" Kirb replied with a cocky grin.

"You're alright?" Flamey asked, equal parts surprised and concerned.

Kirb snorted. "I'm in a hospital," he pointed out with a smirk.

Flamey frowned. "You know what I mean."

"I'm fine," Kirb insisted. "Honest. Although..." He yawned widely, moving his hand up to cover his mouth and then rubbing his eyes. "I know I've been asleep for, like, three weeks, but..."

Nye stood up. "We shall leave you to rest for now, Squire," he announced, "and return again tomorrow!"

Kirb nodded, watching his friends all say goodbye as they left one by one. Kizuna and GC were the last to go, GC only pausing long enough to say "I'm glad to see Zetto did not perish completely as we had feared." He turned and began to walk out of the room, seemingly unnoticing of Kizuna and Kirb's shocked expressions. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Kizuna stared at Kirb for several seconds, wide-eyed. Kirb could do little more than sheepishly grin, and, after a moment, Kizuna's gaze softened and she smiled back. She gave her friend a nod, then left the room without a word.

_'Promise kept.'_

 

* * *

 

Eight days later, Kirb was released from the hospital. Kizuna went to pick him up, and was in his room as the nurse, a kindly human man, disconnected Kirb from the IV drip. "There you are, young Kiziti," he said as the job was done. "Feel free to shift now. We don't have to worry any more about holes disappearing!"

Kirb grinned widely at Kizuna, springing off the bed and shifting into Zetto with a twirl. "Whoo! I'm back to normal!" he cried.

Kizuna and the nurse laughed. "Never quite seen that kind of reaction before!" the human said, then turned and left the room with a wave. "You go have fun, sport. Don't get yourself back in here again, eh?"

"Thanks!" Zetto called as the man disappeared, then turned to Kizuna. "So, uh." His smile became anxious. "You think the others will...?"

"What do you think?" Kizuna replied with a laugh. "They'll be ecstatic just to see you in one piece again. Literally."

Something then occurred to Zetto, and he raised his left arm, no longer mechanical, to his face, wiggling the fingers experimentally. "This'll take some getting used to again," he mumbled.

Kizuna shook her head, then stepped forward and grabbed Zetto's right arm. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

A couple of minutes later, Kizuna and Zetto strolled into the waiting room on their way outside, chatting idly about how the Netkings wanted Zetto to visit them the next day. "SQUIRE!" came a loud shout, and Zetto jumped with a cry, shifting into Kirb just as Nye leapt on the shifter, pulling him into the air as he hugged him tightly. "I am so glad to see you well and out of that room, Squire!"

"N-Nye!" Kirb struggled to say through his crushed ribcage. "I need to breathe!"

The draconian placed Kirb back on the ground, only for the shifter to then be swept up in a joint hug between Alpha and Flamey.

" _Guys!_ " Kirb whined. "I seriously just got let out, you want them to commit me again!?"

Alpha and Flamey released Kirb with a laugh as GC caught up to the group. "It took us a moment to recognise you when we saw Zetto walking out of there!" Alpha said.

Kirb paused, then smiled sheepishly up at his friends with a nervous laugh. "Uh, yeah, about that..."

"We are friends, are we not?" GC asked.

"Of course we are!" Flamey answered, rubbing Kirb's hatless head. "We're just glad to see you back to normal!"

Kirb slapped Flamey's hands away from his head, shifting into Zetto to help discourage her, then sighed and smiled at his friends. "Well, if you guys're sure..."

"A thousand percent!" Nye announced.

" _You can't have over a hundred percent,_ " Zetto shot back, annoyed. "That's a mathematical impossibility!"

Everyone else only laughed, even more so when Zetto glared at them in response. "You know what we mean," Flamey giggled.


	33. Final Flashback

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The secret sixth member of the Five Founders of TOME, Netking Labs' original security consultant, Flashblade grew up in South Delta, where he met and befriended Kindarspirit when they attended the same high school together. True to his name, he was a natural at fighting with a sword, being gifted at eighteen with a katana spelled with wind magic, which he would take with him everywhere he could. After leaving school, he and Kindarspirit stayed in touch through regular emails, so when Netking Labs, then going by the unofficial name of "DeBug Organisation", needed a guard for their dangerous journey into the Ancient Cursed Lands, he was the first candidate to come to mind. He happily accepted Kindar's proposal, and, although he did not consider himself a scientist or knowledgeable in magic, he was happy to be a listening ear to the various problems the team faced as they set about purifying the spelled soil of the magical weave they had taken to calling 'the virus'._

**Kindar told me to leave a note on this... -KTN**

**Nononoooo she was supposed to be commenting on the thing! D: -K**

**We need a better initiation ceremony. -R**

 

* * *

 

The receptionist of Netking Labs offices was an extremely cheerful wengal with three lines resembling eyelashes tattooed above her eyes. "Hello there!" she chirped as Zetto and his friends approached, and already the shifter was irritated. "How can I help you today, sir?"

"Yeah, um," Zetto said as he leaned on the high counter. "I have an appointment with Webmaster and the other Founders..."

"Your name, sir?" the receptionist asked with the widest of smiles, already tapping away at her computer.

Zetto tried not to wince at her high-pitched cheer. "Zetto," he replied, then thought twice and added, "or possibly Kirbopher. I don't know which they would have put me under."

The wengal paused her work and looked up at him, confused.

Kizuna rolled her eyes and stepped up to the counter beside him. "Hey there, Bishipp. He's with me."

Bishipp squeaked in delight as she recognised the second shifter. "Kizuna! Hello, dear! You can all go on up, I'll let them know you're coming!"

Kizuna led her five friends over to the nearby lift while Bishipp went back to tapping away at her computer. Zetto couldn't resist levelling a glare at the wengal up until the doors closed and the six were on their way to the top floor. "She's so _fake_ ," he muttered.

"Well, she has to be cheerful somehow," Flamey pointed out, "working with the public all day. Besides, she seems nice enough."

"She's _annoying_ ," Zetto added.

Alpha grinned. "Are you just grumbling for the sake of grumbling?"

Zetto crossed his arms and looked away. " _No,_ " he insisted.

A few seconds later, the lift pinged as it reached the top floor, and the doors opened to a small waiting room, chairs and plants dotted around the double doors opposite them. Flamey, Alpha and Nye all sat down, while Kizuna, GC and Zetto remained standing, Zetto looking around curiously. "They like their plants," he mumbled to himself.

"You don't need to be worried," GC said, looking at the blue-haired shifter. "We've told you how it went for us."

"I'm not worried!" Zetto cried, bristling at the accusation.

"Good. You shouldn't be," Kizuna replied. "You should see these guys at work; they're total dorks."

Nye rolled his eyes, smiling as he said, "I can certainly believe that after our interactions with them!"

Zetto grunted to himself, crossing his arms and trying not to look like he was hugging himself for comfort. _'Yeah, well, I_ haven't _interacted with them before,'_ he thought, feeling he'd just start an argument if he said it aloud.

A second later, the double doors opened, revealing Kindarspirit stood behind them. She looked around at the assembled group with a smile. "Oh good, you're all here!" she cried, then, spotting Zetto, she walked forward, holding out a hand. "And you must be Zetto! Nice to meet you!"

Zetto hesitated only a moment before reaching out and shaking hands. "You must be Kindarspirit."

"Mm-hmm!" Kindar nodded, and looked around conspiratorially before adding in a whisper, "I was kinda hoping you'd show up in your other form, to be honest. It's so cute!" That said, she spun around with a giggle and disappeared into the next room.

_'Then I'm glad I_ didn't _come as Kirb,'_ Zetto replied mentally, waiting to watch all his friends follow Kindar into the next room before going through after them. One hand rested on the katana on his belt, an act of self-assurance, and he looked around the large room only momentarily before following his friends to the near side of the large table, where six seats were set out for them to sit on. Opposite them sat the five Founders, files and loose bits of paper littering the table around them. Amongst the mess, Zetto noticed two small photos, one of a smug Zetto and the other a bored Kirb, resting on a personnel form he remembering filling out when he joined the Organisation four years ago. _'Man, those are old.'_

"Sorry for the mess," Bitshrum said as he tried to shuffle the loose paper out of the way. "We were all working out here waiting for you and got carried away!"

Zetto moved to sit down, although he was forced to briefly pause and remove his katana first, settling on laying it across his knees. He'd ended up somewhat in the middle of the line of his friends, directly opposite Webmaster in the centre of the Netkings.

The tall wengal leaned forward, hands clasped as he rested them on the table. "Now, I believe you haven't spoken of the attack on the base to any of your friends," he began, "and given the destruction of the virus itself, there is no urgent need anymore for us to know the fine details of what happened. Given you were the lone survivor, we will totally understand if you don't want to talk about it today."

Zetto blinked in surprise. "Really?" he asked.

Webmaster nodded. "All that really remains is our own curiosity and extra details for the DeBug files before we put the whole matter to bed." He reached over and took an offered file from Execk, opening it up and shuffling the two photos and form back inside. "This, for example, is your personnel file from the base. We let Kizuna take a copy of hers, and we can extend the same offer to you, if you wish."

"It's not just the photos and forms," Kizuna added, seeing Zetto's puzzled expression. "Apparently Flash had digital files too, and kept notes on everyone. The Founders here put ours in with our files." As she spoke, Webmaster flipped to the back of the file and took out a piece of paper, sliding it face-down across the table towards Zetto. "You'll probably want to read yours," Kizuna said with a smile.

Zetto reached out and rested a hand on the paper, but didn't move to pick it up, instead staring at it for several long moments. "M... maybe later," he eventually managed to say, removing his hand and leaning back in his seat.

"You okay, Zetto?" Alpha asked, concerned, but got only a quick nod in return.

"I need to talk about it," Zetto said, hands tightly gripping the katana on his knees. "The attack, I mean. It's just... difficult, y'know?"

Everyone nodded their understanding and kept silent, except for Rubi's sympathetic offer, "Take your time, dude. We're not in any hurry."

Zetto took a deep breath and started talking.

 

* * *

 

_"Towers Two, Three, Four, this is Main Gate. We have reports of suspicious movement on eastern side, over."_

_"Tower Two. No sign of anything, but I'll keep an eye out, over."_

"Tower Three. Nothing here either, I'll be on alert for anything, over."

_"Tower Four. What they said, over."_

Kirb sighed as he replaced the small walkie-talkie on its stand. It was not long after eleven in the morning (he knew because he'd looked at his watch not long ago), and he was mentally counting the minutes until the end of his shift at midday. He was still a little shaken from the confrontation with Thorment five hours earlier, which made concentrating on the job at hand difficult, but he was plugging away at it regardless, refusing to let the disagreement (or the _rampant prejudice_ , rather) get to him. Warnings like the one just given over the 'radio' were common, but Kirb, ever the professional Organisation member, insisted on always taking them seriously. After all, you'd never know if you'd ignored an actual warning until it was too late.

Red eyes scanned the trees out to the east of the base, and Kirb made sure to occasionally glance down at the empty grass between the concrete wall and the treeline. _'Less than an hour left,'_ he assured himself. _'Then you can get lunch, relax for a bit, and go find Flash to talk about this morning. Or maybe not, if he's busy. Or, y'know, he decides it isn't an issue. Whatever ends up hap-'_ The thought was cut off mid-sentence as suddenly Kirb's view from the tower was taken up by a massive _grey_ , and the shifter leapt back with a cry, landing on his back on the floor. The _grey_ followed him into the small hut, and Kirb realised it was some kind of cloud, striped yellow, sitting menacingly between him and his walkie-talkie. "The virus!" he whispered in sudden recognition.

_"Tower Three, this is Tower Two. What's going on over there, over?"_

The cloud moved as if to pounce on him, and Kirb shot off two powerful wind spells in its direction, rolling to the side and struggling to get to his feet quickly. It landed where he had been lying, only slowed down by Kirb's hurriedly-cast spells, and moved towards him again. Kirb made a dive for his walkie-talkie, just managing to slam a hand into a large red button under its speaker.

All over the base, loudspeakers suddenly blared to life, warning sirens echoing around the nine sentry towers and all through the concrete walls of the main building. Kirb didn't need to be there personally to know that every available member of the Organisation would be readying themselves for battle, closing up the Vault, and honing in on the location of the virus. He looked up from his crouch on the floor to smirk triumphantly at the virus opposite him, shifting into Zetto as he slowly stood up and readied his best attempt at a fireball spell in one hand.

_"Tower Three, Head Office, is that alarm coming from you? Please report, over!"_

_"Head Office, this is Tower Two. Something's going on over there, Mister Flash sir, but I can't see what, over."_

The virus once again lunged at Zetto, who again jumped to one side as he tossed his fireball at his opponent. It landed, but the virus only shrugged it off.

_"Tower Four, the virus is in Tower Three, I can see it!"_

_"Dammit, Zetto, answer me!"_

The frantic tone in Flashblade's voice over the radio surprised Zetto, and distracted him long enough that he wasn't prepared when the virus again lunged at him. He attempted to dodge as he had before, but jumped wrong and tripped, his split-second decision to shift for Kirb's faster speed meaning it was Kirb that landed face-first on the wooden floor. He was too stunned to move for a moment, and very quickly became aware of a prickling feeling in his legs, slowly creeping up towards his body. He forced himself to look back and up, and saw that the cloud had settled on his feet, creeping into his clothing and nipping at his skin.

The last decision Kirb remembered making was to shift into Zetto as he kicked and screamed, frantically trying to get away from the virus as it absorbed itself into his body.


	34. Blades

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_The DeBug Organisation was founded by Webmaster and Execk as they began their search for fellow magiscientists to help purify the Ancient Cursed Lands. Their one major goal from the very beginning was always to unweave the complex spell, the 'virus', that lived in the soil there, a task to which they recruited Kindarspirit, Rubi, Bitshrum and Flashblade. Although they officially later took on the name Netking Labs, they referred to themselves by the informal name in their internal documents. Purifying the soil was time-consuming, which put the small team on thin ice when it came to obtaining and keeping financial backers, who were all eager to take over the land the moment it was declared safe. Finally, a date was declared as the latest date by which the last acre of soil would be purified, but when the Organisation came to clear it, the virus threw them a curveball; Their hard work had only succeeded in freeing it from the confines of the earth, and it took the physical form of a cloud-like being, made of pure magic._

**I'm so happy to finally see all of this written down! :D -K**

**btw, that reminds me, werent you and flash a couple at some point? -B**

**We were 15, Bits! >:( -K**

**Don't fire me for this, but you guys are weird. -KTN**

**And proud of it, newbie! -R**

 

* * *

 

Zetto couldn't say how long the virus had possessed him on the day of the attack. Both sets of memories were little more than a blur until not long before Kizuna returned to the base. He knew the virus had almost immediately split his body into Kirb and Zetto, and that Kirb with his virus-enhanced speed had gone into the base and starting ripping people's guts out while Zetto with his virus-enhanced strength had obliterated the wall, crushing a good chunk of the Organisation's forces under the rubble.

Flashblade featured prominently in the few concrete memories Kirb had of the initial attack. He had chased the impossibly fast shifter all over the main yard, but the virus seemed to be scared of him and was constantly running away, preferring to spend its time grabbing various Organisation members by a random limb and spinning them around until they came apart, preferably in Flash's direction.

At one point, Flash had cornered the possessed Kirb against the wall of the main building, where it had just finished impaling Thorment. "You remember me, don't you?" he called, katana held forward and ready to respond to anything.

The virus turned Kirb's head, growling through sharpened teeth at the green-haired human.

"Why don't you stop being a coward and meet me face-to-face?" Flash taunted with a glare. "In other words, get out of my friend _right now_ , or I will make you regret coming back to find me."

Zetto didn't know how the virus had responded, but Kirb's next memory of Flash had the older swordsman nursing an open wound in his side.

There were maybe half a dozen fighters left by the time they retreated inside the main building. The virus, through Kirb and Zetto, tore at the doors until they were ripped open, beheading the two guards inside and destroying a third Organisation member it encountered down the hallway. Flash stood in the mess hall, frantically doing _something_ to his katana with the slime known as Pingunk, and they were caught off guard when the virus slammed open their door.

Zetto had known Ping as a speedy and spunky brawler, but she had never been very strong, relying on distracting opponents while a partner did the actual fighting. It was a tactic he'd taught her himself, as a stand-in until she could work up her strength and do proper damage. She had been one of the very few people in the base Zetto had told of his Kiziti nature, and she and Kirb had brawled together many times in the training room, practising her ability to surprise, trip up and generally irritate opponents. It was these same tactics she'd used on the possessed Kirb, delaying him in the doorway while his counterpart leapt in to face Flash. Unfortunately, she hadn't stood a chance, and Kirb had vivid memories of her last moments as he'd smashed her into pieces so microscopic she had no hope of surviving, leaving only a pink stain on the concrete floor.

Meanwhile, Flash faced off against Zetto, holding his katana to one side as it began to glow with stored magic. Zetto charged, only to pull himself into a halt as Flash kicked over a table, distracting the virus long enough for the human to circle him roughly and, before it could again react, Flash had swung his sword, screaming "GET OUT!" as a wave of wind magic flew out of the blade, throwing Zetto into the air and hard against the wall behind him.

Zetto's counterpart watched him fall, the half of the virus within being thrown out of the unconscious body and racing to the door of the room to unite with the still-possessed Kirb. Flash, undoubtedly then noticing the remains of Ping on the floor, warily faced off against his remaining opponent as his katana again began to glow. There was a long stare-down before the virus finally decided to charge Flash, hopping back and forth so Flash couldn't aim a swipe of his sword, frustrating the human as he limped backwards, away from the oncoming threat. The virus chose that moment to make a direct attack, leaping forward and striking at the human's leg, but Flash turned at the last moment, deflecting the blow with the katana sheath on his belt, gouging the possessed Kirb's claw-marks deep into the wood.

Zetto could not recall exactly what happened next in detail. All he remembered was that Flash somehow got an opportunity to swing his spelled katana in Kirb's direction, throwing him into the wall.

 

* * *

 

Kirb coughed from the impact with the floor, and forced his eyes open just in time to see a grey blur disappearing from sight. He was still struggling to process what had happened to him since he raised the alarm back in the sentry tower, and could feel the pressing force of exhaustion telling his brain to just shut down and sleep it all off. There was a clatter nearby, and Kirb looked over, seeing green hair and a black coat lying on the floor not far away. "F-Flash?"

The head turned, and Flash forced a reassuring smile at Kirb through his own exhaustion. His signature shades were gone, likely fallen off during the battle, and he was slightly curled up where he'd fallen on the floor, protecting an injury Kirb couldn't quite see. "Hey there," the swordsman grunted.

Kirb felt his eyelids slipping closed again.

"Hey, hey, stay with me, Kirb," Flash begged, and Kirb was able to force his eyes open long enough to see the wounded human reach out and grab one of the shifter's outstretched hands. He felt rather than saw something being shoved into his grip, Flash's hands enclosing his in a clear sign of passing something on. Kirb was able to meet Flash's eyes only for a few moments. "It's all up to you now, hotshot." Flash's hands withdrew from Kirb's, the object they had given him remaining behind.

It was then everything went black and Kirb lost consciousness.

 

* * *

 

Zetto was the first of the two to wake up. His ribs and hands ached, though he couldn't yet recall why, and he observed quickly that he was lying in the mess hall, tables and chairs thrown about all over the place. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, noting there appeared to be a lot of blood on his hands, then used a nearby chair to stand up fully.

Looking around, it was clear there had been an attack of some kind. There were black marks leaving trails across the floor, and across some of the upset tables and chairs. The doors to the hallway were badly damaged also, a pink stain marking the floor just inside them. To his right, he could see Flashblade lying in a puddle of blood, and Kirbopher just beyond, a katana in his hand. _'First priority, see if either is alive,'_ Zetto thought. _'Second, find out why and how my other form has his own body now. Third, get this blood off me, off both of me if he's alive. It can't be hygienic.'_

Sure enough, Zetto's examination of Flash revealed the swordsman was dead, although only recently still. His best estimate for 'how' was the blood loss, although he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something missing about his reaction to it. Specifically, he felt he _should_ have a reaction, but exactly what his own brain meant by that he couldn't quite work out. Filing the thought away for later, he moved on to Kirb, reaching out for his neck to take his pulse.

_**claws and death and blood and fear and impaling i killed them they are all dead by my hands ping is dead flash is hurt because of me i let this happen** _

Zetto recoiled with a jump. _'What was that?'_ he asked himself, and found that, whatever those feelings were assaulting his mind just then, they were already gone. It was obvious, whatever that _was_ , it was something to do with him touching Kirb. He reached out experimentally and tapped Kirb's sleeved arm, then specified his hypothesis to 'touching Kirb's skin'. _'That makes some kind of sense,'_ he decided, then took a moment to analyse whatever it was that had passed between them when they touched. It looked to be memories, Kirb's obviously, of attacking the base but not being in control of his own body. The flashes of what Kirb had experienced after regaining control were enough to kickstart Zetto's own memories of the attack, and the minutes leading up to it. _'The virus. That makes even more sense. Answers Priority Two as well.'_

Kirb stirred, and opened his eyes. The two looked at each other for several moments, and Zetto once again couldn't shake the feeling there was something he was doing wrong here. He decided the thing to do would be to carry on with his earlier mental list and clean the blood from both himself and Kirb, so he reached out and grabbed Kirb's shirt, pulling him to his feet as he also stood up again. Kirb seemed a bit unsteady, but capable of walking, so Zetto turned to lead the way into the kitchens.

"Wait!" Kirb cried, and before Zetto could react, Kirb's hand had grabbed his.

_**Confusion and insecurity and fear I don't understand what's going on why are there two of me oh god is Flash okay!?** _

Zetto and Kirb both jumped away from each other, and, just like before, Zetto noted how whatever it was that passed between them stopped the moment they broke contact. Once again, Kirb seemed to just be standing there, but now he also appeared to be staring at Flash's body. _'I don't know if he gets my memories too. I suppose he's wondering if Flash is alive,'_ Zetto decided, so he bluntly told his other self "Flash is dead. I checked already."

For some reason, that had the opposite effect on Kirb than Zetto was expecting. Instead of accepting the news and following Zetto to the kitchens to clean up, Kirb made some sort of odd choking sound and sank to the ground, still staring at Flash's body. He raised his hands to his face, but only then noticed the blood caking them and lowered them again, shifting his stares to his lap instead as his mouth quivered and eyes began to water.

Zetto racked his brain for answers to Kirb's actions. At first he found nothing, until he came across a distant memory of a school-friend when he was a child, in much the same pose as Kirb was now. The word 'sad' was attached to the memory, and Zetto felt it should be something familiar to him although it wasn't. The school-friend he remembered giving a teddy bear, and the two of them going off to... do something, he couldn't remember what. Maybe he needed to do something similarly nonsensical to get Kirb to co-operate? He looked up and noticed the abandoned katana on the floor, recalling Kirb's memory of Flash giving it to him. _'Close enough.'_ He walked around Kirb, who didn't react to him, and plucked the blade off the floor, then circled Kirb again and knelt beside Flash.

"What are you doing?" Kirb asked in a hoarse voice.

Zetto untied the katana's damaged sheath from Flash's belt, placing the blade inside before turning to Kirb and holding it out for him to take. "He gave it to you," he reminded his other self. "You are the better swordsman of the two of us."

Kirb hesitated a moment, then slowly reached out and took the offered gift, which he held closely. The odd choking sounds increased, as did the water coming from his eyes.

Zetto stared at Kirb for a long while. _'That didn't work.'_ Lacking an existing Plan B, Zetto invented one on the spot, and left for the kitchens on his own. He would try and talk some sense into Kirb when he came back.


	35. The Will Finds a Way

Excerpt from Webmaster's Encyclopaedia of Life (In Progress):

_Flashblade bravely stepped forward to fight the virus, only for it to possess him instead, using his body to fight like some kind of feral animal. By lucky happenstance, one of the other five Organisation members threw him back-first into their caravan, freeing him from its grip, and the virus fled underground. Netking Labs, having previously promised its financial backers access to the land the next day, tried to stall for time to hunt down the virus and unweave it properly, but contracts had been signed and the companies that kept them afloat refused to let them delay, either not believing their story or simply not caring. Although Flash was badly injured, he came up with a clever plan for the Organisation's next move: He would start an underground movement that would continue the work of the DeBug Organisation under the guise of a terrorist group, while the other five, sticking to the Netking Labs label, would bow to their funders' demands while secretly aiding Flash every way they could. Thus was the Terrain Of Magical Expertise founded._

**It's a shame that 'back-first' thing wasn't discovered earlier. -KTN**

**To be fair, we didn't know it was that move specifically that worked until you guys came along and told us so. -E**

**I'm actually curious to go back through our research and see if we can find a reason for that :) -K**

**We didn't last time we looked, tho? -R**

**It's possible we missed something last time that another look would uncover. -W**

**last person to the archive room is a sissy! -B**

 

* * *

 

"When that didn't work," Zetto concluded, "he ended up cleaning the blood off Kirb with a sponge. Up until Kizuna arrived, he was trying to figure out what was going on and what to do next. After that..." He glanced to his side, meeting Kizuna's reassuring eyes with a sad smile. "Well, I let her take charge then."

There was a long moment of silence as Zetto's story came to an end, everyone individually thinking it over. Zetto himself had returned to staring at the katana on his knees, gripping it tightly with both hands.

"That was very brave of you to tell us all of that," Webmaster said with a grateful smile.

Zetto just nodded.

"I'm glad to hear Flash did go out fighting, just like we thought he had," Execk laughed. "We always figured it was the most likely way he'd end up dying!"

Kindar watched Zetto in concern. "You don't blame yourself, do you?"

Zetto grimaced, but didn't answer, instead lifting the katana onto the table. "I need to return this to you."

"What!?" All of his friends cried at once.

"But that's _yours_ ," Rubi pointed out. "You literally _just said_ Flash gave it to you!"

"Technically he _handed_ it to me," Zetto replied curtly. "There's a difference."

Kizuna groaned in frustration. "No, there isn't!" she argued, but the object of her frustration only ignored her.

"If you guys have all the old Organisation files," Zetto continued, "you'll have Flash's will. Everyone had to make one. It'll say what Flash wanted to happen to this thing, and I know he'll have specified because this sword was his most prized possession." He let go of the sheathed blade, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms, eyes closed so he wouldn't have to look anyone in the eye. "I've been borrowing it only because I needed it, and I don't need it anymore."

There was a long pause, but Zetto stubbornly refused to move. He knew if he did, he'd only take the katana back, and to do so now would surely be the greatest possible betrayal of his old friend's wishes.

Curiously, Kizuna started to laugh. "You total _dork_ ," she said as Zetto opened his eyes and looked over at her suspiciously.

"In that case," Webmaster picked up with a smile, "I'm afraid we still can't accept this from you. As you so eloquently said, Flashblade's will takes priority, and he didn't want it going to us."

Bits gestured to the piece of paper still lying face-down in front of Zetto, underneath where he'd lain the katana. "I think you'll find the relevant portions were duplicated in his notes there. You should really read 'em."

Zetto's eyes narrowed. _'They're not seriously implying...?'_ He looked down at the paper, staring at it for a few seconds before again placing a hand on it. He paused again to gather his courage, only managing to pull it towards himself but still hesitating to actually pick it up. Part of his fear to move was the finality that this was the last thing he would ever hear from his old friend, while another part of it was because he had a pretty good idea he'd know what it said, and he didn't think he could keep from another breakdown if he read the words right now.

GC, sat at the end of the row, turned to face his friends. "Maybe if someone else read it aloud, it would be easier for you," he suggested.

Alpha immediately perked up. "I'll do it!" he cried, jumping forward in his chair and leaning towards Zetto.

"Or, maybe, if you don't want to read it," Flamey instead suggested, "we could find some other solution? Like, someone paraphrases the important bits, you take it home to read it another time...?"

Zetto sighed. Flamey had a good point, and he knew her ideas would certainly save his dignity, but he found himself also agreeing with GC for some reason.  
Webmaster suddenly stood up, and the other four Netkings followed his lead. "We'll leave you to read it in privacy," he said, and the five all separated into offices dotted around the room's perimeter, most of them sending Zetto reassuring looks of some kind. Before long, all five office doors had closed, leaving the six friends alone.

"What is it you want to do, Sir Zetto?" Nye asked.

In one swift motion, Zetto stood up and swung his chair around to face his friends rather than the empty table. He snatched the paper from under the katana and, without even glancing at it, held it out in Alpha's direction. The wengal paused in surprise before taking the paper, and gestured to the group of friends to all shuffle their chairs into a circle as Zetto sat back down, staring holes in the carpet. Kizuna stood to grab the katana, holding it in her lap, and Zetto only glanced up at her before returning his gaze to the floor.

Once everyone was settled, Alpha cleared his throat and held up the paper to read aloud.

"Zetto/Kirb is a bright young man with a deep interest in brawling, helping others, and keeping others safe. He can be very intelligent when he wants to be, -"

Zetto scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"- capable of reading people's physical skills from only their body language and inventing realistic plans for any situation in seconds, but he also has a tendency to allow his emotions to get the better of him sometimes, -"

"What!?" Zetto cried, looking up. "I do not!" At Flamey and Nye's resulting giggles, he only glared.

Alpha smiled before continuing to read.

"- lashing out at anyone nearby on a scale that can easily ruin relationships."

"That is _not_ true," Zetto insisted, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "I can't believe that bastard would say that!"

"Despite this, he easily takes charge of any group of people, and always knows when to stand back and leave leadership to someone else. Although he fears knowledge of his Kiziti nature will drive people away, -"

" _I do not!_ " Zetto once again insisted, ignoring the disbelieving looks all his friends levelled in his direction.

"- he hasn't let it stop him from having an active social life, not that he would ever admit his weaknesses so openly."

Zetto grunted to himself, glaring in a random direction.

"All in all, he inspires respect among the Organisation, and it's no wonder there are such widespread rumours of him being my second-in-command."

Alpha paused as he came to the second paragraph, reading it with an unmistakable confused tone.

"If you're reading this, hotshot, then either you've stolen my computer or I'm dead and someone's enacted my will already."

Zetto's anger dissipated and he looked up to the paper in Alpha's hands with surprise. Kizuna smiled to herself, holding the sword in her hands ready.

"Yes, it turns out those rumours you hated so much were actually true, even though I never made it official. You don't have to move into the Vault, by the way, if you don't want to. Don't worry, you'll do a brilliant job. My katana, the one I left to you, isn't supposed to be a symbol of the leadership of the Organisation, but it sort of becomes one here. It's spelled to absorb and re-use wind magic, and since that's your forte I know it's a perfect fit for you, especially after all the training we did. What I want is for you to carry on the fight against the virus (I hope I went out in a blaze of glory), continue teaching and helping everyone who joins up, and don't hate me for the altered version of the truth I spread around concerning my past with Netking Labs. I hope you found that file first."

Zetto's gaze returned to the carpet, eyes sad.

"Don't forget: It's our duty as the ones in the know to keep Tome safe. I can't think of a better candidate for it than you, hotshot."

Alpha lowered the paper and, seeing his friend looking sad, held it out for him to take. "The 'hotshot' was you, right?"

Zetto only nodded, taking the paper without looking up and holding it out to look over himself. "That bastard," he muttered to himself in false anger, trying not to choke on restrained tears.

Kizuna reached over and petted Zetto's shoulder in sympathy, then, when he glanced up at her, she held out the katana in her hands with a smile. "You want your sword back now?"

"It's not _mine_ , it's _Flash's_ ," Zetto insisted, but he took it anyway. "You'd already read this, hadn't you?" he asked accusingly, shaking the paper at her.

"Yeah," Kizuna admitted with a shrug. "What can I say, I got curious about all the paper the Founders keep leaving everywhere." She took her hand off Zetto's shoulder and stood up. "I know you won't necessarily agree with me, but I'm glad to put this whole virus mess to bed finally." She crossed her arms. "I've always hated fighting."

The other five exchanged glances, then all smiled up at her. "I'll always say brawling is awesome," Zetto said with a smile, "but I'm glad it's all over, too."

**THE END**


	36. Epilogue

**New Years Eve**

**Netking Labs Offices**

 

"I win!" Zetto crowed, jumping off his friend's stomach and waving his katana in the air. "I am the best!"

Alpha rolled his eyes as he sat up. "Yeah, that makes it two wins for you and five for me?"

"Yeah, you're just jealous of my talent!" Zetto replied, sheathing his sword and shifting into Kirb as he wandered across the roof to rejoin their friends. Alpha smiled to himself and shook his head as he followed after.

It was approaching midnight, and the five Netkings had invited Kizuna and her friends to the roof of their office building to watch the fireworks for the second year since the destruction of the virus. Fittingly for a New Year's party, it was a combination celebration and farewell for Kizuna, as she had decided to move on from Netking Labs to take up an elite job in the police force. The Founders were sad to see her go, despite having themselves ensured she had the right paperwork to qualify for the position of a high-ranking detective, and insisted the separation would not break their friendships with the rest of the former members of the now-defunct DeBug Organisation.

Nylocke, wrapped up tightly in multiple layers of clothing and one or two blankets on top, waved to Kirb and Alpha as they returned to the group, all stood near the edge waiting for the fireworks to start. "Squire, Sir Alpha!" Next to him stood GC, quiet as always, although he nodded to his friends in greeting as they approached.

"Hey, Nye and GC!" Alpha called, his return wave interrupted as Nye pulled the pair into a bear-hug. "Uh, nice to see you made it tonight!"

"We apologise for being late," GC spoke up. "We were held up at the other party."

Kirb grunted and wriggled out of Nye's grip, the draconian only reluctantly letting his friends go. Once safe back on the ground, the shifter turned to GC. "Oh yeah, that charity of yours. Was it fun over there?"

Nye chuckled. "As fun as it could be, I suppose!" he said. "The real fun for me lies in heartfelt reunions with my dear friends!" He threw out his arms as though he was going to hug them again, but Alpha and Kirb jumped backwards out of his reach, so he sheepishly lowered them again. "But what of you and Lady Flame? How goes your brawling career?"

"Eh, it goes," Alpha said with a shrug. "Tournament season doesn't start until spring, remember?"

"Ah yes!" Nye cried, but Alpha suspected he'd already forgotten the correction yet again. "I shall eagerly await seeing you in the arena once more!"

"And what are you guys shouting about over here?" Flamey said, walking up to the group wearing little more than a t-shirt and jeans. "I swear, I'd be able to hear you guys from the ground!"

Kirb perked up. "Oh, hey, speaking of your brawling career, we should probably train tomorrow!"

"What?" Alpha and Flamey both cried at once.

"But it's a public holiday tomorrow!" Alpha whined.

"We won't be able to _do_ anything," Flamey argued, "because we'll have been up all night _watching fireworks_ with _you_!"

"Now now," Kirb replied with a cocky smile, wagging a finger. "You should listen to your coach! You don't train, Tournament Season's gonna roll around and you won't win a single match, and you can't come crying to me about it!"

Flamey rolled her eyes. "Missing _one session_ isn't going to degrade our skills that fast."

"Are you this hard on the hatchlings, Squire?" Nye asked with a cheeky smile.

"What?" Kirb started in surprise at the sudden topic-change. "You mean the kids I help teach on Thursdays?"

Alpha laughed. "Yeah, they get a break over the New Year, why don't we?"

"They do love their Coach Kirb!" Flamey added with a smirk.

Kirb frowned. "Shut up."

A squeal interrupted the conversation, coming from a rapidly approaching Kindarspirit. Kirb ducked with a cry, just avoiding the Netking's hug as he shifted back into Zetto, hiding behind Nye with wide eyes.

"Aw, I wanted to squish your adorable little cheeks!" Kindar squeaked as she came to a halt just inside the group's circle. "Oh well, maybe next time, cutie!" She winked at the wary shifter before turning and casually walking away again.

Alpha snorted. "You're _still_ scared of her?" he quietly asked the cowering Zetto, who shot a glare at Alpha before returning his attention to Kindar's location. "It's not like she _hospitalised_ you."

"And that was, like, over a year ago now!" Flamey added with a laugh. "You've been hurt worse, Zetto."

"Now now," Nye replied, "Lady Kindarspirit has a remarkable strength you shouldn't discount. The Squire is right to be wary."

Now Kindar was a safe distance away, Zetto ventured out from behind Nye with a sigh, glaring at Alpha and Flamey. "You two are dicks," he accused.

Meanwhile, Kindar returned to the side of the roof occupied by the other four Founders and Kizuna. Rubi and Bitshrum were engaged in a thumb-wrestling competition to pass the time, and had roped an extremely reluctant Execk to be their referee. Webmaster was stood to one side with Kizuna, the pair of them waiting patiently for Kindar's return.

"Didn't get him?" Kizuna asked with a smile.

Kindar shook her head. "I will next time!" she chirped.

"You do know he's terrified of you, right?"

"Aw, who could be scared of me?" Kindar giggled. "I only gave him a _little_ hug!"

Webmaster chuckled, and turned to Kizuna. "I must say Kizuna, we are really going to miss having you around the office."

Kizuna nodded. "I'll miss hanging around. But this new job, no offence, is a lot more exciting."

"Oh, no offence taken!" Kindar replied. "I did always think that you'd start missing the thrill of the chase eventually!"

Kizuna shrugged with an embarrassed smile. "What can I say? Anyway, I'd better go check up on Zetto after the scare you just gave him."

"Talk to you later, then," Webmaster said as the shifter wandered off.

As Kizuna approached her other friends, she heard them deep in a discussion about Nye and GC's charity work, although it was paused as she joined the group's circle. "Greetings, Lady Kizuna!" Nye called. "You decided to join us for the fireworks?"

"They should be starting any second now," GC explained.

Alpha gasped in excitement. "They'll be starting the countdown _now!?_ "

The six all spread out across the wall at the edge of the roof, looking down towards the docks, where the majority of the fireworks display would be.

"Here's to an awesome new year, huh?" Zetto asked, displaying his distinctive shark-toothed grin.

"Awesome _squared!_ " Flamey corrected with a laugh.

Kizuna looked across at her friends happily. "Whatever it is, it'll certainly be fun."

"And I shall look forward to enjoying it with all of you!" Nye added.

GC nodded, eyes smiling. "I will too."

Alpha looked across to Flamey beside him, and the two shared a smile as they held hands.

In the distance, the fireworks began to glow.

 


	37. Behind The Scenes, Deleted Scenes

8th of August, 2014:

_Real life, not computer. Kirb/Zetto same person split in two. Main5 share house by tournament ring, where they participate in battles. Virus attacks, Zetto drives loaded van at it, exploding it to kill both him and it. Others continue on with life believing him dead, but Zetto has managed to survive and been augmented with more steel body parts._

This was the very original idea, named "Fantasy World AU", that would become 'Friends In a Strange Place'. It was, to be perfectly honest, simply a dream I'd had that intrigued me. It really blows my mind to look back on it almost three months later and see how it all turned out, not to mention the fact that other people liked it, commented on it, bookmarked it...! As such, since at least one person out there has shown interest, here's some early ideas and deleted scenes:

 

Chapter 1 - Takeoff

Flamey narrates Alpha might be hiding his wings with illusion magic. This was an early idea I came up with in case I needed to explain away 'humans' knowing magic or why Alpha and Flamey are the only canon characters that look like they do: The Wengal and Batwing nations would have had strict border policies about letting anyone out and 'escapees' would tend to hide their wings and/or tails with illusion magic. The way the story turned out, this was an unneeded addition to the world-building, so it was never fully incorporated.

I regret never finding a way to include Sat and Whyti (especially Whyti, who I somehow managed to almost totally write out of every scene) more in the final story, since I loved writing their interactions with everyone, but by the time we get back to them after the destruction of the virus, it was out of the question to drag out an already-long ending to detail Flamey's visit back to Sat's cafe.

 

Chapter 6 - Robbery

Alpha was originally going to intervene in the eponymous robbery because he recognised Rockoon and Doubling/Skeight as brawlers from the park. Considering Rockoon is a kid shifter and Doubling is skilled enough to change his form, I thought this would make them spectacularly dumb thieves to allow themselves to be recognisable like that. Besides, the only motivation Alpha needed was a dash of heroism!

 

Chapter 8 - Reunion

This chapter, originally titled "Unexpected Reunion", was going to be purely the eponymous reunion between Kirb, Kizuna and Zetto. In addition, Kirb and Zetto's secret was full-out revealed here at one point, with the two discussing their plans with Kizuna for the following days. Once I realised it was possible to stage the scene without revealing the secret just yet, I decided to hold it off until the other four learn it, to prevent repeating information to the reader. Incidently, Kirb was to decide to leave Lavendera when the virus did, writing the goodbye note for his friends and re-joining Kizuna and Zetto permanently.

 

Chapters 9-10 - Resurgence/Maybe A Kiss

The ending of Chapter 9 and the beginning of Chapter 10 were originally very different: After transforming, Demon instead jumps out the window again. " _Only Flamey follows, telling the other two to keep Kirb in the apartment. Nye, however, is very distressed and decides to go off on a grocery run, and after a few moments silence, Kirb tells GC he has to go job-hunting, so GC lets him leave, explicitly saying he trusts him to come back._ " // " _Flamey finds Demon in a nearby alleyway, destroying the bins, crates and dumpsters within. She implores to Alpha, slowing and eventually stopping Demon's rampage until it's calmed down enough to transform back, at Flamey's kiss. Alpha's first thought is to ask Flamey to sign up with him for the tournament, causing Flamey to laugh, so he drops it to refocus on the real issue._ " The mentioned kiss was to be the title of Chapter 10, "Kiss", but after it was cut I couldn't come up with a better one and just changed it to "Maybe A Kiss".

 

Chapter 11 - Disagreements and Disapprovals

In the first plans, Kirb actually hadn't lost his job in Chapter 4, instead quitting it here (too worried about Alpha to concentrate) to spend the day with Kizuna and Zetto. Although he lost the job in later iterations, he still successfully met up with them, even saying "Stupid Zetto not watching the time!" as his first line in this chapter. By the time it came to uploading, I'd noticed this actually made a plot-hole: If Zetto and Kizuna knew about Demon, logically they'd know the best course of action would be to recruit Kirb's friends into the DeBug Organisation as soon as possible, and not continue to try and leave them out of it as the plans had them doing. I'd already written several chapters ahead at this point, but luckily found a way to fix the hole with minimum rewriting: Have Kirb never find them that day or pass on the news of Demon.

 

Chapter 13 - No Going Back

This chapter is a unique case of there being a rewrite _after_ uploading. Although it was uploaded without the Encyclopaedia entry (only the opening notes from the Netkings), I'd actually originally planned to use the 'illusion magic' entry here, but had moved it to the second half of the story in an attempt at giving the entries some kind of order. The rewrite also added to Flamey, Alpha and Nye's argument in the cafe, so that it would be made perfectly clear that Demon was extremely unlikely to be anyone other than Alpha. If you read the comments, you can tell there was initial confusion on this point, which prompted the rewrite.

 

Chapters 14-16 - Lost and Found/Brothers...?/Or Not, Whatever, It's Cool

If you're having trouble telling who's saying what in the opening section of "Lost and Found": If there's stuttering it's probably Alpha, if there's italics involved it's probably Flamey, and if there's a lack of contractions and usage of big words it's probably Gamecrazed. Nye makes himself pretty clear by his unique naming conventions.

The scene where the two groups meet also went very differently at first: Kizuna, Zetto and Kirb were still deadset at this point on fighting the virus alone, so they tried to convince Kirb's friends to return to Lavendera despite knowing about Demon, embroiling them in an argument. I'd also still been working out where the lines were between Zetto/Kirb and Alpha/Demon at this point, so the argument featured a very uncharacteristic moment of logical-Zetto losing his temper at an angry Alpha's accusations.

I was uncertain on how big the Organisation should be before the virus attack; Kizuna originally said "There were hundreds of us back then" when questioned, but I reduced the number later for various reasons (A larger group would be able to overwhelm Virus-Kirb/Zetto no matter their strengths, the virus itself is scared off by the Mechcity police later on, etc.). A similar rewrite happened to Nye's question of when Kirb left Kizuna and Zetto, as I'd misremembered during writing how long Kirb had been friends with him (Nye said something like "Considering when we met, I suppose the Squire left not long after the attack?" and Zetto nodded in agreement before proceeding to embarrass Kirb).

 

Chapters 17-22 - Journey: Alpha, Flamey, Nylocke, Gamecrazed, Kizuna, Zetto

These chapters were planned as a single Chapter 17, "Intermission", covering the jump to Mechcity through the group's diary entries. It got extended when I decided to add flashbacks inbetween (not originally including Kizuna discovering the base), and was split up into two and then six chapters. I added the scenes in the present with the group travelling to made the individual chapters a decent length. In case I'd ever needed it, I had a seventh flashback scenario prepared, detailing Kirb's decision to go off on his own the morning after the attack. Had it ended up in the final story, it would have been the introduction of Flashblade's bank cards and Tome's train system as Kirb went straight to Lavendera; He was going to go all the way back to the Kiziti Plains, but would chicken out of actually leaving the country and stay put there.

"Journey: Zetto" in particular went through a few changes: Kirb's diary entry was a little longer, featuring a moment in the middle where he goes into a written shouted spiel about how much he hates Zetto. The scene with the group in the present was written but later removed because the flashback went for so long, but here it is in full:

 

* * *

 

 

Alpha flopped onto his sleeping bag, or rather Kirb's sleeping bag that he was still borrowing, and sighed. Since they'd noticed the virus's change of direction only a matter of days ago, they'd been flat-out chasing it, trying to see if they could beat it to the city's edge and possibly chase it away. Today, that hope had officially become a lost cause, as it had beaten them into Mechcity and plans were still being made for what they'd be doing next.

The wengal looked up, staring out into the dark trees. With his back to the fire like this, he could only hear most of his friends as they quietly chatted amongst themselves about tomorrow. Flamey had been a godsend keeping them focussed on the positive side of things, and even Kizuna seemed to occasionally smile as she answered various questions about what she used to do in Mechcity on her days off. She was pretty quiet when it came to a mall she mentioned loving on the south side of the city, though.

To Alpha's right, not far away, he could see Zetto and Kirb sat on the edge of the firelight, their backs to each other and knees pulled up to use as makeshift tables for the work they were doing. Kirb had their daily log diary, glaring daggers as he scrawled whatever he was thinking directly onto the page. Zetto had the map, and was perusing it with his robotic left arm. To Alpha's surprise, the taller shifter was also frowning to himself, and Alpha realised with closer inspection that Zetto's right and Kirb's left arms were both hidden from view, meaning the two were probably holding hands and making use of the psychic connection they'd mentioned a couple of times.

Zetto looked up at Alpha. "What?"

Alpha jumped. "U-um," he mumbled. He hadn't been expecting Zetto to notice him staring, since Zetto was very clear on his inability to read body language. Of course, Zetto also didn't _frown_ ; That was Kirb's influence.

Softly sighing to himself, Zetto returned to his map. Kirb blinked in confusion as he looked up. "Did you wanna talk or something, Alpha?"

Alpha nervously laughed as he shook his head. "N-no, just... thinking, y'know?"

Kirb nodded, then returned to the diary, pausing only a moment before continuing to write.

Blushing, Alpha hurriedly planted his gaze on the grass between his feet. _'_ That _was embarrassing...'_ Of course, with any luck, they might finally have the virus on its last legs soon. He wondered if, once it was destroyed for good, the effects it had left on him and on Kirb and Zetto would be reversed. If not, it was a rather depressing life that awaited them afterwards... if it didn't kill them first, that is.

Alpha snuck a second look up at Zetto and Kirb again. Kirb was looking contemplative as he wrote, while Zetto had his eyes closed, one mechanical finger tapping a particular spot on the map. As Alpha watched, Kirb paused and held the end of the pen up against his mouth. Zetto subtly moved his head to his right as though turning to talk to someone, and Kirb frowned again, lowering the pen and glaring off to his left. The wengal smiled and looked away again. They deserved their privacy. Or, _he_ deserved _his_ privacy. Instead, Alpha peered over his shoulder to look back at the fire, and smiled as he saw Flamey and Nye laughing about something. Kizuna sat nearby, hiding her own smile, and GC looked as content as he ever did sitting inbetween them. _'I don't need to worry about the future,'_ he told himself. _'After all, we're a team. And if there's one thing I've learned since meeting these guys, it's that we never leave anyone behind.'_

 

* * *

 

Chapters 23-28 - Revisit/Exploration/Concerned Allies/New Home/Settling In/Unwanted Admirer

The plans for these chapters were much less... eventful: Kirb and Kizuna came up with "the van plan" entirely on their own after finding an untouched room of explosives in the base. Zetto led the other four to a backup hideout that was an existing homeless community in an abandoned stadium (first draft of the plans) or _underneath_ the docks (second draft of the plans), and the act of actually taking them there was entirely 'off-screen'. Hyprelinx and Elescope were runaways who lived there and befriended them. Neither Neomutant nor the Netkings appeared at all until the second draft of the plans and the actual writing process respectively. Unsurprisingly, all of this took place originally over only two chapters maximum.

Rubi's report to Webmaster at the end of "Settling In" went through a couple of rewrites in an effort to avoid repeating bits of the story to the readers; He originally listed everything he was able to lipread off Kirb and Kizuna, and I'd even split up his overly-long report across two chapters before deciding to keep it to one and just cut out all the re-used dialogue altogether.

 

Chapters 29-31 - Night Off/Final Stand/Tying Up

The first draft of the plans, where the group were taking shelter in an old stadium, had the virus attack them there randomly and Zetto happen to be the first to the van. When Kirb loses consciousness, his friends worry Zetto's death has killed him too. They take him to the hospital themselves, and meet the Netkings in the waiting room. The second draft resembled the final story more (adding the visit to the stadium that doesn't turn out the way they expect), but kept the group meeting the Netkings in a waiting room.

"Tying Up" (then "Tying Up Loose Ends") was originally intended as the last chapter, and would have ended on a cliffhanger of Kirb waking up at an unspecified time, and shifting into Zetto with a smile. Although it was a visual I liked, it didn't gel much with the shifting lore I'd invented since, so it was cut. Specifically, if shifting heals injuries, then a young shifter or adult Kiziti shifting while attached to equipment would disconnect them from IV drips and the like, so it would be banned among patients. Also, Zetto had an entire arm missing and a scarred eye, which would take a lot of energy to heal when Kirb first shifted back... energy that he wouldn't have waking up after three weeks asleep in a hospital bed.

 

Chapter 32-35 - Loose Ends/Final Flashback/Blades/The Will Finds a Way

The planned replacement 'final' chapter, "Loose Ends" was going to be composed of two written reports by the Netkings; The first detailed Kizuna and Alpha's stories before Kirb/Zetto woke up (deleted so as not to unnecessarily repeat the story to the readers), while the second, which became the actual ending, was Zetto's story after being released from hospital.

Elements of the story here that were elaborated more in the plans were Alpha's nervousness at meeting Webmaster, and Kirb/Zetto's fear of being abandoned by his friends when they discover his shifting ability is back to normal. In the end, I thought it was truer to Alpha's development if he forgot all about the embarrassing 'fledgling mark' and that was why he decided to keep it, and I wrapped up Zetto's worry quickly in a desire to not drag out the end of the story even longer than it already was!

 

* * *

 

GENERAL NOTES

There was quite a lot of thought that went into Kiziti naming culture, although not all of it made it into the story: They introduce themselves with all their names upfront, name of their current form first, traditional name right after if it's not the current form's, then order of other names from biggest to smallest forms. Thus, Kizuna introduces herself as "Kizuna, Tigerlilly, Nina" in Chapters 14 and 19, and Kirb as "Kirbopher, Zetto" in Chapter 19. It's considered a mark of great disrespect to refer to someone to their face by the wrong name, although if said person is not present, the norm is to use their traditional name. Children, since they haven't settled yet, only have their traditional names and thus that's the only one they use. Incidently, Webmaster spent a good chunk of his childhood in a country of the Kiziti Plains (The Kiziti Plains are a sub-continent of multiple countries - I never had the chance to bring this up), so the prejudice against Kizitis in the wider world is something close to his heart, and thus he knows to refer to Kirb as 'Zetto' in Chapter 31.

 

All shifters, not just Kizitis, have an inbuilt ability to read and recognise body language to a greater degree than other species, since they only have concrete forms in adulthood; Hence Kirb recognises Alpha's untapped brawling talent in Chapter 2, and Kizuna recognises Zetto's two forms in passing prior to the Chapter 19 flashback. Flashblade also notes an element of this specific to Zetto in Chapter 35. Shifters are also the most widespread species, because in ancient times they befriended all their neighbours, interbred, had shifter children and essentially caused the extinction of almost every other sentient species around them. This interbreeding is also why only Kizitis have more than one form in adulthood, because they stayed put while their relatives spread out across the world.

 

Humans, Wengals and Batwings, as noted by Webmaster, all come from the same species and relatively recently so in evolutionary terms. I didn't want to have to think about this while writing as it was an unnecessary distraction from the story, but changed my mind once a commenter showed interest in this supposedly-minor detail. So, yes, Wengals and Batwings can procreate and produce fertile offspring, although said offspring would have malformed wings and potentially odd-looking tails, too; Bone structure is different between bat- and bird-wings, not to mention Batwings' tails have a noticeable bend in the middle, so crosses would have wings (either leather or feathered) that were incapable of flying because genetics tried to reach a happy medium and failed. They would be the most likely to use a glamour/illusion spell to hide said wings. As for crosses with Humans, there isn't a real-life precedent I can use as a base, since Humans lack the additional limbs Wengals and Batwings have, not to mention distinguished themselves from the ancient Wengals/Batwings by their lack of magic. If pressed, I'd have to go with the baby retaining the species of the mother, with the possible exception that Humans would have their father's tail and Wengals and Batwings would be tail-less.

 

Since this story was originally planned and being written before Season 2 came out, there are several details that were added or changed due to the releases of Episodes 11 and 12. The largest and most notable would be the Netkings themselves; I'd guessed they were likely to finally appear in Season 2 (the reason why I kept them so sparsely used at first), but as we'd only met Webmaster and Kindarspirit at that point, I went with the names and characterisations of the other three's TTA counterparts... all of which, annoyingly for me, ended up with significant changes of varying degrees. The new names in particular lead to a mass-rewrite of changing "Ex", "Blitz" and "Ruby" to "Execk", "Bits"/"Bitshrum" and "Rubi". In terms of personality, these changes are why Bits comes across as more the joker of the group for most of the story, constantly trolling Webmaster's encyclopaedia while Rubi sits back and acts a lot more serious. After Episode 12's release, I made an effort to update everything yet-to-be-uploaded to the new personalities, but everything before that was left alone except for the name changes.

Less significant changes due to Season 2's release are additions of Alpha and Flamey's new outfits at separate points in the story (and the quiet disappearance of Nye's cape), as well as the last-minute appearances of new characters like ChaseAce and Odboll.

 

* * *

 

While writing the second half of the story, I pondered telling the Netkings' side purely using one-on-one chatlogs, and continuing to hide who they were. I actually wrote out a few before finally deciding the idea was terrible and mostly abandoning them, with the two in the final story being entirely new. Among the ideas were that Bitshrum would have a different username every time he appeared, which was incorporated and then deleted from the first re-written chatlog of the finished story. Other Netkings also had different usernames, with Rubi calling himself 'CopyDog' and Execk going by 'WorkAndPlay'. These are also all pre-Episode 12, so Bits and Rubi have 'swapped roles' as such, with Rubi being serious while Bits is a troll.

 

11:42:34 **WorkAndPlay >** Are you online?

11:42:53 **Humble Pie >** yup, right here

11:43:16 **WorkAndPlay >** Are you free?

11:44:17 **Humble Pie >** just a sec

11:45:43 **Humble Pie >** i'm free now. what is it?

11:45:55 **WorkAndPlay >** I'm afraid we have a situation.

11:46:05 **WorkAndPlay >** Could you round everyone up and come to my office now? I have something you're all going to want to see.

11:46:19 **Humble Pie >** serious?

11:46:29 **WorkAndPlay >** Very.

11:46:48 **Humble Pie >** alright, i'll get everyone there asap

11:47:10 **WorkAndPlay >** My regards.

 

14:20:01 **E NOT AE >** so i saw a certain someone drawin on ur notes again

14:20:20 **Humble Pie >** yourself?

14:20:43 **E NOT AE >** what no of course not

14:20:54 **E NOT AE >** why would i tell u if i was the one who did it

14:21:10 **Humble Pie >** because you're the only one who ever dies?

14:21:12 **Humble Pie >** *does?

14:21:32 **Humble Pie >** actually the typo is accurate.

14:21:46 **E NOT AE >** lol

14:21:51 **E NOT AE >** but srsly its not me y would it be me

14:24:12 **E NOT AE >** dude

14:24:37 **E NOT AE >** are u still there

14:25:50 **E NOT AE >** if ur gonna slamm y office door open again i swear to god

14:26:19 **E NOT AE >** thats it im locking my door

14:28:29 **Humble Pie >** curses, foiled again? haha!

14:28:43 **Humble Pie >** seriously though, next time there's something exciting going on, i'm intentionally leaving you out of it.

14:29:07 **E NOT AE >** awww

14:29:16 **Humble Pie >** get on with those police reports. this is a matter of life or death, after all.

14:29:31 **E NOT AE >** im almost done actually

14:29:39 **E NOT AE >** ill come show u in a sec

 

17:21:24 **~Dreaming~ >** did those reports go out to the police yet?

17:22:03 **CopyDog >** ... she asked the wrong person

17:22:08 **CopyDog >** Answer's yes by the way

17:23:07 **~Dreaming~ >** oh sorry, it wasn't you doing them?

17:23:16 **~Dreaming~ >** i misheard, sorry :(

17:25:21 **CopyDog >** Hey, it's fine

17:25:28 **CopyDog >** I'm actually analysing the footage of our two 'intruders'

17:25:32 **~Dreaming~ >** you matched em1? 8DD

17:25:37 **CopyDog >** lol, yeah, I did!

17:25:51 **CopyDog >** It's definitely the two we couldn't identify from the dead

17:27:03 **~Dreaming~ >** EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

17:27:07 **CopyDog >** :)

17:27:16 **CopyDog >** I also spotted something else interesting

17:30:03 **~Dreaming~ >** oh? :D

17:30:13 **CopyDog >** One of 'em has FB's sword

17:30:15 **~Dreaming~ >** ?

17:30:20 **CopyDog >** It's all scratched up on one side, but it's his

17:31:04 **~Dreaming~ >** what are their names?

17:31:21 **CopyDog >** They're Kizitis, so they actually have five between 'em but

17:31:29 **CopyDog >** Kizuna and Zetto

17:31:50 **CopyDog >** Zetto's the one with the sword

17:32:51 **~Dreaming~ >** huh :/

17:32:57 **~Dreaming~ >** is it just me or is that a familiar name?

17:33:01 **CopyDog >** It should be

17:33:07 **CopyDog >** Come around to my office and I'll show you why

17:33:12 **~Dreaming~ >** okay, coming!

 

18:40:05 **SPORE KING >** WHERE THE HELL R U DUDE

18:40:12 **SPORE KING >** THIS IS IMPORTANT STUFF GOIN DOWN

18:40:26 **WorkAndPlay >** Turn off your capslock, I am aware of the situation.

18:40:30 **WorkAndPlay >** Unlike you, I was watching the news break on TV.

18:40:36 **SPORE KING >** well hoity toity

18:40:40 **WorkAndPlay >** And would it kill you to keep the same username for more than a day?

18:40:51 **WorkAndPlay >** I hate having to stare at your profile for a minute at the beginning of every conversation.

18:41:09 **SPORE KING >** im just tryin to make sure everyone knos wats goin on

18:41:13 **WorkAndPlay >** Not to mention, our esteemed leader is currently on the phone with the police.

18:41:37 **WorkAndPlay >** I think you were the only one not to notice the news, in fact.

18:41:41 **WorkAndPlay >** Almost fitting, considering you wrote the report we sent to the police.

18:41:48 **WorkAndPlay >** You really should have been paying attention though, and seen where your plan failed as it happened.

18:41:51 **SPORE KING >** r u done now

18:41:55 **WorkAndPlay >** Not even nearly.

18:41:58 **[WorkAndPlay has been blocked by SPORE KING]**

18:42:02 **WorkAndPlay >** OH FOR F

 

* * *

 

As for my little "Fantasy World AU", there's lots more I could do with it now. I've on-and-off pondered recently on doing bunches of what I've dubbed "back-stories, future-stories, forgotten scenes and what-ifs" set in this universe. If I did, I'd keep them all to one chapter each in a single story here on AO3, but, of course, I haven't yet written anything and I'm not sure yet if I will. If I do, I'll hopefully see you then! If not, well, I hope you had fun with this one!

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!


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